BALTIMORE — Seldom-used Henry Blanco hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning off Wei-Yin Chen, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Baltimore Orioles 3-2 Sunday behind left-hander Joe Saunders.
Batting ninth in the lineup, the 41-year-old Blanco sent an 0-2 pitch into the left-field seats to erase a 2-1 deficit. The backup catcher was playing in his 32nd game of the season, the 17th with Seattle after being signed as a free agent.
Blanco has played for 11 different teams during a career that began in 1997. This was his third homer of the season; the other two were grand slams, including a game winner in his Mariners debut against Oakland on June 15.
Saunders (10-10) worked out of trouble in almost every inning but improved to 7-0 against Baltimore after allowing two runs, eight hits and two walks in six innings.
