(Sports Network) - After acquitting themselves well on a very challenging road trip, the Seattle Mariners return to Safeco Field tonight to play the first of three straight meetings with the Baltimore Orioles.

Seattle is coming off a nine-game trek in which the club took on the teams with the three best records in baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. The Mariners went 5-4 on the jaunt and posted an impressive series win over the AL East-leading Red Sox to close out the trip.

The Mariners did fail in their attempt to sweep, however, as Boston put up five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to rally for an 8-4 triumph on Sunday.

Miguel Batista (5-3) came on to protect a 4-3 Mariners' lead in the seventh but was tagged for three runs over just two-thirds of an inning to take the loss. Brandon Morrow worked the first six frames for Seattle and gave up three runs while striking out seven batters.

"I thought we put ourselves in a position to win," Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said. "I thought we played this game similarly to how we have the last four or five games, going into the seventh with a one-run lead, I thought Morrow did a nice job today, especially in this environment."

Ronny Cedeno had a three-run triple for Seattle, which currently sits 3 1/2 games behind American League West co-leaders Texas and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Jarrod Washburn gets the call for the Mariners in the opener of this homestand and will be hoping to reverse his recent fortunes. The veteran lefty has lost six of seven decisions after beginning his 2009 campaign by winning his first three starts.

Washburn put an end to a frustrating 10-start winless streak by firing six innings of two-run ball to defeat San Diego on June 25, but served up a season-high three homers in a 4-2 loss to the Yankees last Wednesday. He allowed all four New York runs and struck out six batters in a seven-inning stint.

The 34-year-old pitched well in a home outing against Baltimore on June 1, limiting the Orioles to just one run and six hits over seven innings. However, Washburn didn't get any offensive support from his teammates and was stuck with a 1-0 loss.

Washburn, who is 3-2 with a solid 3.00 earned run average in eight home starts this season, owns a 6-6 career record with a 4.58 ERA over 16 appearances (15 starts) versus Baltimore.

He'll be opposed tonight by Brad Bergesen, who's in the midst of an impressive rookie season. The young Baltimore hurler has compiled a 5-2 record with a 3.53 ERA in 14 starts since joining the team's rotation in late April and enters tonight's clash having won four consecutive decisions.

Bergesen was on his way to another win this past Wednesday after holding Boston to a mere one run and four hits over eight outstanding innings. However, the Orioles bullpen surrendered five runs in the bottom of the ninth to relinquish the lead.

The 23-year-old is unbeaten over his last seven starts and has given up two runs or less in all but one of those games. That includes a pair of starts against the Mariners, including a June 3 encounter at Safeco Field in which Bergesen yielded two runs in a seven-inning no-decision.

Bergesen also faced Seattle in Baltimore on June 9 and fired eight shutout innings to lead his team to a 3-1 victory.

Baltimore comes in on a two-game losing streak and has dropped four of its last five tilts following Sunday's 9-6 road defeat to the Angels.

Brian Roberts had a solo homer and a two-run double for the Orioles, while Matt Wieters finished 3-for-3 and also went deep on the afternoon.

Baltimore starter Rich Hill threw the first 5 1/3 innings and was tagged for six runs on six hits. Matt Albers (1-3) was handed the loss after allowing the first three Anaheim hitters to reach base in the bottom of the seventh inning, all of whom scored.

Adam Jones, selected as the Orioles' lone representative to the AL All-Star team on Sunday, finished 2-for-5 in Sunday's setback.

The Mariners will have two players -- right fielder Ichiro Suzuki and starting pitcher Felix Hernandez -- on the AL squad for next week's Midsummer Classic. Suzuki, voted in as a starter by the fans, currently ranks second in the league with a .362 batting average.

Seattle has won four of six meetings with the Orioles so far in 2009 and took two of three from Baltimore in Safeco Field last month.