SEATTLE (AP) – Rookie Mike Morse lined a game-winning RBI single to right field after reliever Chris Ray’s throwing error put a runner on third base, giving the Seattle Mariners a 3-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday night.

Adrian Beltre led off the ninth with a clean single to right off Ray (0-1), and Willie Bloomquist hit a dribbler that Ray fielded and threw way over the head of first baseman Rafael Palmeiro.

The ball bounced into the stands, and Ray was charged with an error. It put Beltre at third and Bloomquist on second for Morse, who sent an 0-2 pitch into right field. It landed just in front of Baltimore’s B.J. Surhoff.

One night after a two-hit performance that included his 3,000th career hit, Palmeiro singled twice in four at-bats to boost his total to 3,003. He’s four hits from tying Al Kaline (3,007) for No. 24 on the all-time list.

The Orioles missed a chance to move into a tie with Boston for first place in the AL East after the New York Yankees beat the Red Sox 7-4 earlier Saturday.

J.J. Putz (2-3) got the win after relieving Jamie Moyer in the ninth. Moyer, who earned his 200th career victory in his previous start on July 8, pitched eight strong innings in a duel with Baltimore’s Bruce Chen.

Both were clicking through the middle innings of a 2-all tie when Moyer escaped a seventh-inning jam. After allowing one-out singles by Eli Whiteside and Brian Roberts, Moyer got Sammy Sosa and Melvin Mora on called third strikes.

Moyer held on again in the eighth. Palmeiro lined a one-out single past diving first baseman Richie Sexson, then Surhoff flied out and Luis Matos moved Palmeiro to third with another single to right.

With fans on their feet, Moyer forced a grounder by Larry Bigbie. That ended Moyer’s night after eight innings. He allowed two runs on 10 hits with five strikeouts and one walk.

It was Chen’s turn to sweat when the Mariners batted in the eighth. He issued his first walk of the night to leadoff hitter Ichiro Suzuki, who went to second on Randy Winn’s sacrifice.

Raul Ibanez flied out to the warning track in center, and Orioles manager Lee Mazzilli pulled Chen for the right-handed Ray, who got Sexson to chase a low, outside pitch for a third strike.

Chen worked 7 2-3 innings, allowing two runs on six hits with five strikeouts and one walk.

Baltimore tied it at 2 in the fourth, with Surhoff hitting a sacrifice fly and Bigbie recording a run-scoring groundout. Palmeiro singled to right in that span, moving Miguel Tejada to third.

Sexson hit a solo home run in the first to put the Mariners up 2-0. Winn started the scoring with a one-out double, reached third on a throwing error charged to Chen on a muffed pickoff, then scored on Ibanez’s sacrifice fly.

Notes: In his last six games, Palmeiro is 10-for-21 with three homers. … The fans booed when Chen hit Suzuki with a pitch in the fifth. … By working the first inning, Moyer passed Randy Johnson to become Seattle’s franchise leader in innings pitched. He’s now at 1,846 1-3 innings. … The Orioles have collected at least 10 hits in 45 of their 90 games. … Bloomquist was hitless in three at-bats, ending his career-high 10-game hitting streak.

AP-ES-07-17-05 0102EDT

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