Orioles manager Buck Showalter sat in the visitors’ dugout of Safeco Field before Tuesday night’s game against the Seattle Mariners and preached about maintaining the “competitive integrity” of the game when playing against teams competing for postseason spots.
Then he sent out a starting lineup that included just three players who were on the Orioles’ Opening Day roster against a Mariners team clinging to its playoff hopes 5½ games out of the American League’s second wild-card spot.
The Orioles’ season has long since been over — the only question heading into this week’s series in Seattle being whether the team can avoid reaching its 100th loss here at Safeco Field — but on Tuesday night, the visitors embraced their spoiler role, further denting the Mariners’ playoff hopes with a 5-3 victory over Seattle.