Tillman bests Iwakuma as O's take series
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Baltimore, MD (SportsNetwork.com) - Chris Tillman outdueled Hisashi Iwakuma on Sunday, tossing seven scoreless innings to help the Baltimore Orioles take the rubber match of a three-game set with a 1-0 decision over the Seattle Mariners.
Tillman (8-5) has dominated Seattle over his career, improving to 6-0 in six career meetings. The young right-hander struck out six and allowed just four baserunners during his 101-pitch outing.
"Starting pitching is starting to show up for us ... we're feeding off each other," Tillman said.
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Iwakuma (9-6) was nearly flawless after Nick Markakis led off the bottom of the first inning with a solo homer. He fanned seven in 7 2/3 innings of work.
Iwakuma has gone at least seven innings in six straight starts.
"We've played them seven games and I thought we played them pretty good," Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said.
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Markakis had three of Baltimore's five hits, including his 22nd double of the season. He finished a triple shy of the cycle.
The O's improved to 30-25 at home and padded their slim lead on top of the American League East standings with the win. They will travel to Washington for one game on Monday before a crucial three-game series in Toronto against the Blue Jays, who sit in second in the AL East.
Markakis fell behind 1-2 on Iwakuma before working the count full. He then deposited the sixth pitch of the at-bat onto the concourse in right field. Iwakuma responded by striking out the side.
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Tillman retired 14 straight batters at one point before Kendrys Morales singled to center to start the seventh inning. Kyle Seager followed by grounding into a routine 4-6-3 double play, and Chris Denorfia grounded out harmlessly to end the stanza.
Zach Britton came on in the ninth and secured the game, pitching around a two- out walk to Robinson Cano to earn his 23rd save.
Game Notes
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Orioles slugger Chris Davis returned to the lineup after missing Saturday's game with a stomach virus ... Seattle did not have an extra base hit ... Both of Iwakuma's losses since July 1 have come against Baltimore ... Iwakuma walked two batters for just the third time this season. He has 101 strikeouts and 11 walks in 125 1/3 innings ... Seattle has not won back-to-back games since July 11-12 against Oakland.