Orioles lose opener 4-3 in eight innings (updated)

Two batters into Game 1 of today's doubleheader and John Means was tasked with maintaining a streak that no longer could support a mistake pitch. Or a lucky bounce. Or anything that pushed across another run.

Seattle's Ty France hit a changeup into the left field seats with the bases empty. One run was on the board.

Tom Murphy led off the second inning by launching a 92 mph fastball into a similar area. Two runs were too many.

Means wasn't going to allow one or less for a seventh consecutive start. He just wanted to silence the Mariners and give his team a chance to rally.

The silent treatment worked, with Means retiring 10 batters in a row and leaving after a leadoff walk in the sixth. And the rally idea also had legs.

Ramón Urías hit a two-run homer off Justus Sheffield in the fifth and the Orioles tied the game with two outs in the seventh on Ryan Mountcastle's scorching double off reliever Rafael Montero and DJ Stewart's RBI single into left field.

Pinch-hitter Rio Ruiz walked, Freddy Galvis popped up and the game carried into extras, where Kyle Seager had an RBI double in the eighth in Seattle's 4-3 victory over the Orioles at Camden Yards.

The Orioles are 4-6 and have lost six of their last seven games. Dean Kremer starts the nightcap, which is supposed to begin 45 minutes after the conclusion of the opener.

Left-hander Tanner Scott inherited Mitch Haniger and allowed him to score on Seager's double to center. Seager moved up on Pedro Severino's passed ball, but was caught in a rundown after Scott fielded Luis Torrens' comebacker. Scott struck out two batters in the inning.

Kendall Graveman handled the bottom of the eighth and stranded Galvis on third base. Cedric Mullins lined to third leading off the inning, Trey Mancini flied to the fence in right-center and Anthony Santander grounded out.

Means allowed three runs and five hits in five-plus innings, with two walks and five strikeouts, and Travis Lakins Sr. replaced him after 88 pitches. Six of the first 10 batters reached and Means received a visit from pitching coach/director of pitching Chris Holt with the Orioles trailing 3-0 in the second.

France lined into a double play on Means' 41st pitch.

"I thought he settled in nicely after the second inning," said manager Brandon Hyde. "Early on he hung a changeup to France and didn't have his best breaking balls early, but kept us in the game and put up some zeros after that. A little more aggressive in the strike zone, locating better after the first couple innings. Gave up three runs, pitched into the sixth, we just didn't score."

Murphy's home run was followed by Stewart's sliding catch in left, an Evan White walk and singles by J.P. Crawford and Haniger - the latter a ground ball that sneaked into center field and scored White.

Means got on a roll after Haniger's RBI single, a different streak interrupted by Seager's walk in the sixth. Lakins, the 27th man for the doubleheader, struck out two batters and induced a fly ball to strand the runner.

"I just didn't execute the game plan early," Means said via Zoom. "I wasn't coming after them, I wasn't locating well, I just wasn't pitching like myself. And I just kind of locked it in. I knew what I needed to do, I just wasn't able to do it those first couple innings. Once I got past those, just got with Sevie and we got back to the game plan.

"I hate starting the game off like that. It's just lack of momentum on my part. Just come out and give up three runs in two innings, I need to attack more and just get the game going a little bit on a better note. I'm obviously happy with how I bounced back. The last thing I needed there was to let it get even worse."

Mullins extended his hitting streak to 14 games, dating to September, with an infield single in the bottom of the first inning.

Sheffield retired the next eight batters. He needed only 31 to turn over the lineup.

Mullins led off the fourth inning with a walk and Mancini bounced into his second 5-4-3 double play. Santander reached on an infield hit and Maikel Franco lined out.

The Orioles didn't get any lift on a ball until the fifth. Severino and Mountcastle flied to center and Urías homered over the grounds crew shed in right field.

"Our plan against (Sheffield) was we needed to see the ball up, needed to see it up, out over the plate, and he just kept feeding us sliders down, especially early in the count, a lot of weak outs," Hyde said. "We've got to do a better job with our approach standpoint up and down the order to make it a little bit easier on ourselves."

Haniger robbed Mancini in the sixth by racing to the right field line and making a sliding catch. Paul Fry tossed a scoreless seventh.

The Game 2 lineup reads as follows:

Mullins CF, Stewart DH, Santander RF, Mancini 1B, Franco 3B, Mountcastle LF, Urías 2B, Sisco C, Galvis SS.