Scott’s 8th-inning grand slam rallies Orioles past Mariners 6-5

Scott’s slam carries Orioles over Mariners 6-5

BALTIMORE — Luke Scott hit a grand slam to cap a five-run eighth inning against reliever Brandon League, and the Baltimore Orioles rallied to beat the Seattle Mariners 6-5 Thursday.

The Orioles held on to win when left fielder Corey Patterson nailed Josh Wilson at the plate for the final out. Wilson tried to score from second on Ichiro Suzuki’s single.

Held to five hits over seven innings by Seattle starter Felix Hernandez, the Orioles promptly broke loose against League (3-3).

Patterson, promoted from Triple-A earlier this week, hit a leadoff homer in the eighth to start the comeback from a 5-1 deficit.

Adam Jones reached on a wild pitch on a strikeout and Nick Markakis followed with a single. One out later, a walk loaded the bases for Scott, who drove League’s first pitch into the front row of the left-field bleachers.

Fans tussled for the ball above the outstretched glove of Michael Saunders. Scott briefly stopped between first and second base, then thrust his arm skyward and smiled broadly when he realized the opposite-field drive was being a ruled a home run. It was his second career slam and Baltimore’s first this season.

Mark Hendrickson (1-0) pitched 1 1-3 innings in relief for Baltimore starter Kevin Millwood, who remains winless after eight starts.

Alfredo Simon worked the ninth to earn his fifth save, the second in two games. Patterson helped preserve it with his throw to catcher Matt Wieters, who tagged out Wilson.

Seattle lost for the 10th time in 12 games despite getting a fine outing from Hernandez and hitting a season-high three home runs. Suzuki and Mike Sweeney both homered for the first time this season, and Saunders hit No. 2.

The Mariners came into the game with a major-league low 13 home runs, and only once before had they hit more than one in a game.

The Orioles went up 1-0 in the fourth when Markakis walked and scored on a two-out single by Ty Wigginton.

Seattle bounced back with a three-run fifth. Ryan Langerhans hit a leadoff double and was at third base with two outs when Saunders, the No. 9 hitter, singled on a 3-2 pitch. Suzuki then hit a 2-0 pitch over the right-field wall.

Sweeney hit a solo shot in the sixth, and Saunders chased Millwood with a drive to right in the seventh.

NOTES: Baltimore took two of three to improve to 4-2 against the Mariners. … Seattle OF Franklin Gutierrez sat out a second straight game Thursday with a sore upper-back muscle. … Hernandez has not won since beating Baltimore on April 21.