Mariners-Orioles Preview

The Baltimore Orioles have been successful despite simply average starting pitching from a group of names that wouldn't impress many.

Tyler Wilson probably is the most unrecognizable, but his last effort was one of the best the Orioles have gotten from their staff recently.

The 26-year-old takes the mound for this 10th career start looking to help Baltimore deal the visiting Seattle Mariners a fifth loss in six games Thursday night.

The Orioles (24-14) rank near the middle of the pack in the majors with a 4.35 ERA from their starters, who gave up 10 runs in 9 1/3 innings during back-to-back losses before Chris Tillman's solid performance in Wednesday's 5-2 win.

Wilson (2-1, 2.93 ERA) made five starts and four relief appearances in 2015 and came out of the bullpen for his first three outings this season. He has a 3.57 ERA while making four straight starts and will be pitching on six days' rest against the Mariners (22-17).

The right-hander last pitched May 11, when he allowed two runs in seven innings of a 9-2 win at Minnesota.

"When you don't have your best command, it's important to get contact early in counts," Wilson said. "I wanted to give my team a chance to make plays behind me, which they did all day, like they always do."

Wilson made his major league debut with a scoreless inning of relief against Seattle on May 20, 2015, at Camden Yards, where Baltimore has a baseball-best home mark of 17-7.

Mark Trumbo and Matt Wieters hit back-to-back homers in the second inning, and Wieters added two doubles as the Orioles avoid losing three straight for just the second time this season. They had two hits in a 10-0 loss in Tuesday's series opener.

"I'm seeing the ball good," said Wieters, who had four extra-base hits prior to Wednesday. "Early in the year, I was just going up there pre-swinging and pre-taking. Now, going up and being able to recognize pitches, I think that's always key."

Seattle couldn't build on Tuesday's effort as No. 7 hitter Chris Iannetta was the only one with multiple hits. It has dropped four of five following a three-game winning streak and has lost three of its last five on the road after starting 12-4 away from home.

Nelson Cruz doubled and is batting .478 while hitting safely in all seven games against his former team since leaving Baltimore after the 2014 season.

The Mariners look to get back on track with help from Nathan Karns, who has shaken off a rough beginning to the season to go 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA in a stretch of four straight quality starts.

Karns (3-1, 3.51) allowed three runs in 6 1/3 innings and got a no-decision in Seattle's 7-6 loss to the Los Angeles Angels on Friday.

The right-hander gave up only three hits prior to the seventh, when he allowed singles to three of the first four batters he faced before leaving with the bases loaded.

Karns was solid in his last two starts against the Orioles last season while with Tampa Bay, giving up three hits and striking out 11 through 11 scoreless innings. Manny Machado is 0 for 9 in their matchups.