The Orioles and Seattle Mariners turned the second game of their series in Seattle into a fresh matchup on paper Tuesday, with Kyle Bradish and George Kirby listed as the starting pitchers after Seattle opened the set with a 3-1 win. The Orioles kept Blaze Alexander at third base, moved Leody Taveras to center field and Tyler O’Neill to right field, and used Samuel Basallo as the designated hitter.
That lineup card came with some immediate weight for Baltimore because the loss the night before pushed the Orioles to 34-40, dropped them to three straight defeats and left them 12-21 away from home. They were also 1 ½ games behind the third-place Blue Jays, 11 ½ games out of first and 2 ½ games back in the Wild Card race, so the margin for another quiet night was already thin.
Basallo gave Baltimore at least one reason to keep looking, driving in his 30th run of 2025 the previous night. His 30 RBIs ranked ninth among qualified major league rookies, a useful marker for a lineup that has at least kept scoring in every one of its first 74 games. That run matters because it is the third-longest season-opening streak in franchise history, behind only 2007 and 1978, and it has kept the Orioles from drifting into a much deeper hole.
Bradish brings the sharper concern into this start. He owns a 4.30 ERA and a 1.568 WHIP in 14 starts, and this month has already given up 10 runs and 16 hits in two outings that covered only eight innings. He walked six and struck out eight in those starts, then comes back against the Mariners after surrendering a career-high three home runs in his last outing against them, when he allowed five runs and seven hits in four innings at Camden Yards. His one previous career start at T-Mobile Park went better, with two runs allowed in six innings.
Kirby has been steadier for Seattle, carrying a 4.07 ERA in 14 starts and coming off a six-inning outing against the Orioles last Wednesday in which he allowed three runs and six hits while striking out 10. That sets up a test of whether the Mariners’ starter can repeat that command and whether Bradish can avoid another hard night. Shane Baz is scheduled to oppose Bryan Woo on Thursday afternoon, which gives the Orioles little room to waste this one if they want to keep the trip from slipping further.
