SEATTLE — For the second straight game, the Orioles fell behind in the middle innings and their winning streak threatened to come to an end. For the second straight game, Adley Rutschman homered to help spark a comeback.

Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson hit back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning Thursday to propel the Orioles to a 4-3 win over the Seattle Mariners, completing a three-game sweep of a team that entered the series in first place atop the American League West and extending their winning streak to a season-high six games.

Baltimore (25-36) has swept two straight opponents after taking all three games against the Chicago White Sox over the weekend, the first time they’ve swept consecutive series since July 7-16, 2023, when they did so against the Minnesota Twins and Miami Marlins.

Zach Eflin outdueled Mariners right-hander Bryan Woo for the Orioles’ eighth quality start in their past 14 games. Eflin scattered eight hits and served up a two-run home run to the scorching-hot Cal Raleigh on a cutter over the heart of the plate in the fifth, but didn’t walk anyone and finished his afternoon on a high note with a shutdown sixth.

The Orioles and Mariners exchanged runs in the third when Maverick Handley scored on a wild pitch and Raleigh, who leads the majors with 24 homers, roped an RBI single to left field. That score held until Raleigh’s fifth-inning blast, which followed a double by J.P. Crawford on a fly ball with a 90% catch probability that right fielder Heston Kjerstad couldn’t track down.

But the Orioles responded right away, jumping all over Woo after he kept their offense largely at bay over the first five frames. Jackson Holliday drew a leadoff walk and Rutschman, who had three hits for the second time in three days, sent an 0-2 hanging slider over the right-field wall for a game-tying homer. Three pitches later, Henderson followed with a solo shot of his own to give the Orioles the lead.

Keegan Akin and Andrew Kittredge each faced the minimum in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively, before giving way to Bryan Baker, who got his second save opportunity of the season after closer Félix Bautista pitched each of the past two days. Baker gave up a two-out single to third baseman Miles Mastrobuoni but struck out Dylan Moore to end the game.

Instant analysis

After posting an 8.22 ERA over his first three starts coming off the injured list, Eflin has rebounded with consecutive quality starts. The right-hander has just one walk between the two outings while racking up 13 strikeouts.

Baltimore doesn’t have an ace in this rotation, but it has been one of baseball’s best over the past three weeks and Eflin’s resurgence is a big reason there’s hope that their success can continue. He’s gotten back to being the reliable innings eater he was down the stretch last season who consistently put the offense in position to win low-scoring games.

With the lineup still a work in progress, the Orioles are going to need every quality start he can give them.

On deck

The Orioles will look to make it seven in a row when they head to Sacramento, Calif., for the first time after the Athletics left Oakland over the offseason. The A’s are coming off a win but have dropped 20 of their past 22 games to slide behind Baltimore in the AL standings. Dean Kremer is scheduled to take the ball Friday followed by Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano.

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