Grayson Rodriguez pitched 6 1/3 effective innings as the Baltimore Orioles defeated the host Seattle Mariners 2-0 Tuesday night in the opener of a three-game series between division leaders.

The American League East-leading Orioles won for the fifth time in their past six games while the AL West-leading Mariners dropped their third in a row.

Rodriguez (10-3) allowed just two hits, both by Josh Rojas -- a two-out single in the third inning and a leadoff single in the sixth. The right-hander walked four and struck out eight.

Yennier Cano, Cionel Perez and Craig Kimbrel combined for 2 2/3 innings of hitless relief to complete the two-hitter. Despite hitting two batters with pitches in the ninth, Kimbrel earned his 20th save.

The Orioles opened the scoring in the fourth inning after Gunnar Henderson grounded a leadoff single to center field off Mariners starter George Kirby (7-6).

Adley Rutschman hit a grounder to second baseman Jorge Polanco, whose foot slipped as he made the throw to second, the ball hitting a sliding Henderson in the back to put two runners on. With one out, Anthony Santander grounded a run-scoring single to right.

The Orioles doubled their advantage in the seventh. Jordan Westburg grounded a one-out single to right and Colton Cowser and Cedric Mullins singled up the middle, the latter bringing home the run.

That was it for Kirby, who allowed two runs on seven hits over 6 1/3 innings, with one walk and five strikeouts.

Former Oriole Austin Voth replaced Kirby and walked Jorge Mateo to load the bases. Voth caught Henderson looking at a called third strike and got Rutschman to fly out to right to avoid any further damage.

Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez, who entered the game in a 2-for-32 slump, was dropped to the No. 7 spot in the batting order. Rodriguez went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, including a whiff with runners at second and third to end the game.

--Field Level Media