Julio Rodriguez, moved back into the leadoff spot with J.P. Crawford placed on the 7-day concussion list, doubled, homered and drove in four runs and Luis Castillo pitched six strong innings as the Seattle Mariners routed the visiting Baltimore Orioles 9-2 Friday night
Cal Raleigh and Ty France also homered for the Mariners, who won their eighth in a row and for the 13th time in their past 15 to pull within a half-game of Toronto for the American League's third and final wild-card playoff berth
Anthony Santander homered for the AL East-leading Orioles, who lost for the third time in their past four games
Castillo (8-7), who was facing the Orioles for the first time, allowed one run on two hits. The right-hander walked two and struck out eight
Orioles right-hander Kyle Gibson (11-7) was hammered by Seattle for the second time this season. Gibson, who lasted just three innings in a 13-1 loss June 23 in Baltimore, was tagged for nine runs on 12 hits in 5 1/3 innings Friday. He walked two and fanned four
The Mariners scored in the first inning as Eugenio Suarez grounded a one-out single to left and Raleigh followed with a two-run shot to right, his team-leading 20th homer of the season
The Orioles pulled within 2-1 as Santander went deep to right-center on Castillo's first pitch of the fourth inning
The Mariners answered with five runs in the bottom of the frame. France, Dominic Canzone and Cade Marlowe singled to load the bases. Jose Caballero hit a sacrifice fly to center and Josh Rojas lined a run-scoring single to right, his first hit since being acquired from Arizona at the trade deadline. Rodriguez then muscled a sinker down and in just over the right-field wall, the three-run shot making it 7-1
France went deep to left in the fifth inning
The Mariners tacked on another run with one out in the sixth as Rojas and Rodriguez hit back-to-back doubles to left
The Orioles scored a run in the ninth on Ryan O'Hearn's double and a two-out single by Jordan Westburg
--Field Level Medi