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Orioles try to extend dominance of Mariners

Sep 18, 2012 - 2:56 PM (Sports Network) - The Baltimore Orioles didn't give the Seattle Mariners much of a chance to play spoiler on Monday night.

The streaking O's aim to continue their playoff push with a seventh straight victory over the Mariners on Tuesday in the second contest of a three-game series.

Baltimore jumped all over Seattle in the opener, getting a leadoff homer from Nate McLouth that fueled a three-run first. The Orioles added another four runs in the second and rolled to a 10-4 victory for their fifth win in seven games.

The victory extended their lead over the idle Los Angeles Angels to three games for the league's second wild card position. Baltimore also crept to within a half-game of the New York Yankees, who were also off on Monday, for first place in the AL East.

McLouth had three of the Orioles' 15 hits, Adam Jones went 3-for-4 and scored four runs and Matt Wieters homered and drove in three runs.

Chris Tillman, who had not pitched in two weeks because of right elbow discomfort, improved to 4-0 in his career against the Mariners by allowing just one run on three hits and no walks over six innings.

"The Mariners have been playing real well for a while and you feel like they're going to make a run at you. Our guys kept adding on," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "It's a good time of year to not be assuming anything and we haven't been."

Baltimore, though, beat Seattle for a sixth straight time and is 10-3 versus the club over the past two seasons.

Michael Saunders and Eric Thames hit solo home runs in the second and eighth inning, respectively, while John Jaso capped Seattle's scoring with a two- run homer in the ninth.

Hector Noesi was victimized early by the Orioles, getting charged with the seven runs over the first two innings of work.

"He just really struggled. When he did get ahead he gave up two-strike hits, it looked like he was in the middle of the plate," Seattle manager Eric Wedge said. "You keep hoping to try and squeeze him through cause the last thing you want to do is have to go to your bullpen in the second inning."

Hoping to hand the Mariners an eighth loss in 11 games on Tuesday will be O's starter Wei-Yin Chen.

Though Chen did not win his most recent start on Thursday versus the Tampa Bay Rays, he did turn in an excellent outing by allowing two runs on eight hits over 7 1/3 innings with just one walk. The left-hander struck out seven in the no-decision as his club won 3-2 in extra innings.

Chen had a similar outing when he faced the Mariners for the first time in his career on July 3 in Seattle. He did not factor into a 5-4 win, but yielded just two runs on two hits over 7 1/3 frames with nine strikeouts.

The 27-year-old is 12-9 with a 4.00 earned run average through 29 starts and will be opposed by fellow rookie Erasmo Ramirez for the Mariners.

Ramirez made the 13th appearance of his career and fifth start on Tuesday, beating the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 to earn his first victory. The righty yielded two runs on six hits over seven innings, fanning six.

"He pitched a fantastic ball game tonight," Wedge said of his starter. "That's a good hitting ball club over there and Erasmo did a great job."

Ramirez, 22, is 1-2 with a 3.49 ERA on the year and will face the Orioles for the first time.