The Seattle Mariners and Baltimore Orioles will collide at Camden Yards on Sunday in the decisive contest of a three-game series.
Friday night's series opener featured seven home runs combined between the two clubs. However, the Orioles got the better of the offensive onslaught and were led by Chris Davis and his MLB-leading 40th long ball of the season in an 11-8 victory.
The Mariners got some revenge on Saturday as they earned an 8-4 win.
Leading the way for Seattle were Justin Smoak and Michael Saunders. Smoak went 3-for-3 with a home run and three runs scored, while Saunders, who batted behind Smoak in the lineup, went 2-for-4 with two home runs and five RBI.
Erasmo Ramirez allowed four runs over six innings to pick up his third win of the season while Danny Farquhar pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings to finish the game and collect his first save.
With the win Seattle put an end to a four-game losing streak.
Scott Feldman let up five runs on seven hits and could not get out of the fifth inning in taking the loss for Baltimore. Matt Wieters went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI and Manny Machado also went 2-for-4 with a home run of his own.
Baltimore dropped to a half-game back for the final wild card spot in the American League. Texas is also in the same position.
Looking to become the third Seattle pitcher to reach double digit wins this season, Joe Saunders will pitch for the Mariners in the series finale.
Saunders has been stuck with nine wins over his last two starts but one more win would allow him to join Felix Hernandez (11-4) and Hisashi Iwakuma (10-4) with 10 wins on the campaign. Overall, Saunders is 9-10 with an ERA of 4.65.
The southpaw's ERA wasn't helped in his last two starts in which he has pitched no further than the fifth inning and allowed five runs in each outing. Most recently, Saunders pitched exactly five innings and let up five runs on six hits against the Red Sox.
Saunders had one of his best games of the season when he faced Baltimore on April 29. Saunders tossed his only complete game of the season in the effort and allowed just two runs on four hits to collect what was then his second win of the season. Saunders is now a perfect 6-0 with an ERA of 4.22 in eight career starts against the Orioles.
Wei-Yin Chen is going to be on the mound for the Orioles on Sunday as he shoots for win No. 7 on the campaign.
Chen has certainly been the Orioles' best starter in terms of runs allowed. Chen's 2.87 ERA is more than a run better than the second best mark among Baltimore starters with Miguel Gonzalez at 3.88. Chen has made only 12 starts and is 6-3 due to some injury issues that have plagued him during the year.
Chen's last two starts have been almost identical. He tossed 7 1/3 innings, allowed seven hits and three runs in each contest, though his outing on Tuesday against Houston earned him a win and included a season-high nine strikeouts.
In his two seasons with the Orioles, Chen has faced Seattle three times, including an outing this year. In that contest Chen was off his game as he allowed five runs in just four innings, his shortest effort of the season. Chen took the loss in that contest and is now 0-1 with a 4.86 ERA all-time against Seattle.
With the win on Saturday, Seattle took a 3-2 lead in the season series.