Julio Rodríguez exits in 6th inning as Mariners fall to Orioles

As Wednesday night’s game moved from the bottom of the sixth to the top of the seventh and the usual between-innings entertainment blared on the massive video screen of T-Mobile Park, most of the 28,068 in attendance didn’t notice Victor Robles jogging to center field and Rob Refsnyder making his way out to right field.

In the first-base dugout, Julio Rodríguez, who had started in center field and struck out on a check swing to end the sixth, was packing up his gear and heading back to the clubhouse with head athletic trainer Kyle Torgerson.

Another injured player?

With Josh Naylor (right wrist inflammation) and Luke Raley (back discomfort) out of the lineup and unavailable and Randy Arozarena placed on the injured list 24 hours earlier, the Mariners can’t afford to lose another key contributor.

A 5-3 loss to the Orioles with their patchwork lineup was not ideal. But having Rodríguez also out of the lineup for even a day or two is untenable.

Of course, his spot in the order came back around in a huge situation late in the game. Trailing 4-1 in the eighth inning, the Mariners put runners on the corners with two outs, bringing up Refsnyder to face hard-throwing right-hander Yennier Cano.

Refsnyder, who has struggled at the plate this season, popped up to shortstop to end the threat.

The Mariners got a decent start from George Kirby, who has been searching for more overall consistency in his outings over the last three weeks.

It wasn’t that Kirby was bad. He gave the Mariners what, by measure, is considered a quality start – six innings pitched, three runs allowed on eight hits with no walks and five strikeouts. But he allowed a runner to reach base in five of the six innings and was clearly irked at a couple of instances when he got beat by Baltimore hitters.

In the third inning, he gave up a one-out single to No. 9 hitter Blaze Alexander on a 97-mph sinker above the strike zone. Kirby came back to retire Taylor Ward for the second out but left a 1-1 fastball over the inner half of the plate that Gunnar Henderson deposited in the right-field seats for a two-run homer.

The Mariners trimmed the lead down to one run in the fourth when Julio Rodríguez doubled to right off Orioles starter Kyle Bradish and later scored when Dom Canzone bounced a ground ball through the middle of the infield for an RBI single.

Kirby suffered a bad break in the sixth. With one out, Pete Alonso was able to reach on a rare infield single. He hit a swinging bunt to the third-base side of the mound. Kirby hustled to the ball and made an off-balance throw to first that couldn’t be gloved by Miles Mastrobuoni.

Kirby was able to get Samuel Basallo to fly out to left for the second out. All he needed to do to get out of the inning was retire one-time teammate Leody Taveras, who had struck out in his previous at-bat. But Taveras worked a full count and took advantage of a misplaced sinker over the middle of the plate, sending a ball into the gap in right-center for an RBI triple and a 3-1 lead.

The Orioles picked up a run in the seventh off Alex Hoppe and another in the ninth off Michael Rucker. Those two runs loomed large when Canzone and Cole Young hit back-to-back solo homers to start the bottom of the ninth.