BALTIMORE -- Credit the kids for this one.

Rookies Shed Long?and Kyle Lewis continued their scorching Septembers with big days at the plate on Saturday and shortstop J.P. Crawford ripped a three-run homer in the eighth, as the Mariners¡¯ young guns provided the punch in a 7-6, 13-inning victory over the Orioles at Camden Yards.

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Another rookie, Tim Lopes, drove in the go-ahead run with an infield single with two out in the 13th, as Mallex Smith alertly sprinted home from second on a high chopper that Lopes narrowly beat out on a high throw from third baseman Rio Ruiz.

¡°With an opportunity like that, I had no plans on stopping,¡± said Smith, who had reached on an error and then swiped his 45th base to put himself in position. ¡°The third baseman playing back, chopper, I¡¯m outta there.¡±

Smith¡¯s heads-up play wound up deciding the four-hour, 42-minute battle after rookie reliever Erik Swanson -- the Mariners¡¯ 10th pitcher of the night -- closed out the 13th for his second save.

Smith, who is only 26 himself, credited his younger teammates with providing a boost in the Mariners¡¯ late-season run, with Seattle winning eight of its past 11 games.

¡°These last few weeks, they¡¯ve just kind of carried us,¡± Smith said. ¡°They¡¯ve done a phenomenal job. Great at-bats, hitting the ball hard, getting key hits when we need ¡®em. It¡¯s been fun to watch and it gives us a bright spot for the future.¡±

Long, who has been primarily playing left field since being called up from Triple-A Tacoma on Sept. 2, went 3-for-4 with a homer, a double and a walk while scoring three runs from the leadoff spot. The 24-year-old is batting .414 (17-for-41) with eight RBIs and six extra-base hits over his past nine games.

Lewis, who ripped six homers in his first 10 games since being promoted from Double-A Arkansas, was kept in the yard this time. But the 24-year-old right fielder went 2-for-5 with a pair of opposite-field singles and worked an 11-pitch walk in his six plate appearances to put his average at .333 (15-for-45) with 12 RBIs.

Crawford capped it all with a 3-for-5, four-RBI game, including his line-shot home run in the eighth off reliever Mychal Givens, completing a banner day for the three youngsters at the top of Seattle¡¯s lineup.

¡°Our guys have a lot to play for,¡± Mariners manager Scott Servais said. ¡°They¡¯re trying to prove themselves in this league and on our team. It¡¯s been really good. Shed Long had another huge night.¡±

Crawford¡¯s homer and RBIs were his first since Aug. 23, as he snapped a streak of 48 at-bats without driving in a run with a fifth-inning single and then tied his career high of four RBIs with his three-run shot.

¡°J.P. Crawford looked awesome tonight at the plate,¡± Servais said. ¡°He¡¯s been working really hard, making some adjustments in his set-up. Seeing him catch up to that high fastball tonight was great.¡±

The rest of the Mariners managed just three hits in 36 at-bats and went 0-for-3 in bases-loaded opportunities, but Seattle improved to 4-1 on its final road trip of the season and 66-89 overall. The Orioles missed an opportunity to win back-to-back games for the first time since late August, while falling to 50-105.

Justus Sheffield, another rookie, allowed four runs on five hits in 4 1/3 innings as he remained 0-1 with a 5.81 ERA after six starts. Sheffield said he left too many balls over the plate in a three-run second inning and again in the fifth, when he allowed three hits and a run before reliever Brandon Brennan bailed him out of a bases-loaded, one-out situation.

But the 23-year-old did take a step forward in one area as he continues developing his game at the big league level.

¡°I threw a lot of changeups. That was about the only positive I took out of tonight,¡± Sheffield said. ¡°I had some strikeouts on the changeup, so that was good to see. I¡¯ve been focusing on it since I¡¯ve been up here, working on that third pitch. I¡¯m seeing some positive results from throwing it. But they got to me early in the second and I just wasn¡¯t able to get out of the fifth.¡±