O's outscore Mariners 7-6 to start homestand (quotes added)

Orioles pitchers gave up just four runs in three games in Boston. Tonight, Chris Tillman allowed that many by the fourth inning. If the Orioles were going to win tonight, the bats would need to come up big.

And the bats did that as the Orioles scored runs in five of six innings from the second through the seventh. They beat Seattle 7-6 at Oriole Park to pass the Mariners in the hunt for the second AL wild card spot at 66-65 to Seattle's 66-66.

The Orioles are over .500 for the first time since they were 31-30 on June 11. They have won five in a row and six of the last seven.

Tied at 6-6 in the seventh, Trey Mancini greeted reliever Emilio Pagan with his third single of the night. When Chris Davis doubled into the right-field corner, Mancini rounded the bases for the 7-6 lead.

Mancini is 10-for-17 the last four games, since the start of the series in Boston, and is 14-for-27 during a seven-game hitting streak. Davis has 10 RBIs his past 13 games.

The Orioles had 16 hits tonight. They have scored 40 runs their last five games, 83 in the last 13 and 248 runs in 43 games (5.8 per game) since the All-Star break.

Darren O'Day pitched out of a two-on, no outs jam in the top of the eighth to preserve the lead and Zach Britton recorded the save in the ninth, pitching around a one-out walk. It was his first game since Wednesday when his American League-record run of 60 straight converted saves ended.

The Orioles took a 3-1 lead to the top of the fourth but were behind 4-3 when the half inning ended. Tillman walked two in the inning and they both scored ahead of a three-run homer by Ben Gamel. He hit an 0-1 slider 414 feet to center for his seventh home run. He had been just 5-for-30 on the Mariners road trip.

In the bottom of the fourth the Orioles went ahead 5-4 on Craig Gentry's bases loaded single to center for the 4-4 tie and Tim Beckham's bases loaded hit by pitch for the 5-4 lead.

Adam Jones hit a solo homer to center in the fifth to make it 6-4 and it was a milestone home run for Jones. He hit No. 25 on the year and No. 250 for his career. Jones has hit 25 or more homers for seven straight seasons and that is an Orioles' record. Cal Ripken Jr. had six consecutive seasons. The 1981 strike season kept Eddie Murray from the chance to do so nine years in a row from 1977-1985.

But the O's 6-4 lead would not last. Tillman issued back-to-back walks with a one out in the sixth and Mychal Givens replaced him. Gamel followed two batters later with a two-run single for the 6-6 tie. That gave him a career-high five RBIs.

Tillman had another bad night. He gave up six runs on three hits and four walks with two homers allowed over 5 1/3 innings. His ERA is now 7.91 for the year, 9.71 in 11 starts in night games and 6.40 in 12 home starts.

Tillman has just three quality starts in 17 starts on the year. He has allowed five runs or more nine times this season.

The Orioles held the early 3-1 lead after Danny Valencia's solo homer in the second scored the game's first run. Welington Castillo's bases-loaded single in the second made it a 2-1 lead. An inning later, Jonathan Schoop's bloop single plated his 96th RBI. Castillo's hit made him 4-for-6 this year when batting with the bases loaded.

The runs were plentiful on a cool night at Camden Yards. When this game ended, the Orioles had just enough to pass the Mariners and move over the .500 mark.

Clubhouse quotes

Tillman on if the four walks were frustrating: "Two of them were. The other two, I think, you know, you are trying to pitch smart there and not dumb. They came back and hurt us, yes, but you have to make the pitches following that batter to get two outs with one pitch. When you walk guys, you can't expect to always find a way to get out of that. The two after Nelson (Cruz) killed me. Those are guys you have to get after and make a pitch and get a double play."

Tillman felt his command overall was solid: "I feel like it was as good as its been all year. I feel like I made a lot of pitches. Lot of pitches that I wanted to make. Other than two of the walks, command was better. Contact wasn't nearly as firm. Lot of soft contact and groundballs. That's your goal, really."

"Later in the game, I was trying to stay out of the big inning and kind of pitched myself into trouble. I felt like command was much better tonight. It is getting there, slowly but surely. Have to get better pitching out of the stretch."

Tillman on Jones' milestone home run: "It's pretty special. I was in there talking to him about it and he thought it was pretty funny. You can't ask for a better teammate and better person on the field. The guy shows up every single day to play. As a teammate, that is all you can ask for."

Mancini on team building momentum and hitting is contagious: "It feels really good right now, especially offensively. I feel like we're all not trying to do too much. We trust the guy in front of us and behind us to get the job done so, yeah, it's been really good to be a part of the offense these last few games.

"Everybody's been hitting on all cylinders, especially Manny (Machado) really stands out to me. He's just had an incredible month. Every time he's up at the plate right now you feel like something great's going to happen, and that's good. It kind of inspires you as an offense when a guy like that's really on fire."

Britton on his sinker working well tonight: "Absolutely yeah. A couple of guys were saying that, from the side angle in our dugout, that was the best they've seen it in a while. So that's good news. I think I felt a little more relaxed. It's been a grind for me this year but, you know, hopefully I get back to my former self a little bit and get back to the way I want to pitch. Especially going into September, that would be huge for everybody."