LDN - Sports

Blue Jays in wild-card tie with win over Mariners

[September 20, 2016] SEATTLE -- Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Marco Estrada has been in the postseason and he's pitched in a few big games over his career, but he's never seen anything quite like what welcomed him Monday night at Safeco Field.

Playing a road game in front of 34,809 fans that were mostly dressed in Blue Jays colors, Estrada rewarded the Western Canadian fans who drove down to Seattle by flirting with a no-hitter before Toronto held on for a 3-2 win over the Seattle Mariners.

"We felt like we were the home team," Estrada said, "and it was something we could build off of."

Estrada threw seven no-hit innings, not giving up a hit over the first six, and teammate Edwin Encarnacion belted his 41st home run of the year, as the Blue Jays held off Seattle to move back into a tie atop the American League wild-card standings.

Estrada threw six innings of no-hit ball before Seattle's Robinson Cano led off the seventh with a single. Encarnacion's two-run homer in the third inning stood up as the game-winner as the Blue Jays (82-68) pulled into a tie with the Orioles, three games ahead of the Mariners (79-71) in the wild-card race. Detroit (2 1/2 back) and Houston (three games back) were also in the mix after Monday night.

"It means the world just to pull off the win, regardless of what happened to me," Estrada said. "We needed it after struggling these past couple of games."

Estrada (9-9) allowed one hit over seven scoreless innings. He walked the first batter he faced in the eighth inning and came out after 97 pitches. The Mariners ended up walking the bases loaded with two outs in that inning before Toronto turned to closer Roberto Osuna, who got Cano to fly out to deep right field to end that threat.

The Mariners threatened again in the bottom of the ninth, when Seattle pinch hitter Shawn O'Malley had a two-out single off Osuna before Mariners center fielder Leonys Martin belted a two-run homer that pulled Seattle to within 3-2. Osuna then struck out Ben Gamel to earn his 34th save of the season.

"Not a lot of hits, but we had a rally late," Seattle manager Scott Servais said. "We've got to keep playing; that's what our schedule says. And we play the same team (Tuesday), and they're the team ahead of us."

Encarnacion went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer that gave the Jays their first lead, at 2-0 in the third. Center fielder Kevin Pillar, the No. 9 hitter, added three singles on a night when Toronto had seven hits after scoring just one run over the final two games of the Angels series over the weekend.

Cano had the only hit for Seattle, which has been shut out in two of its past four games and has been held to two runs or fewer in four out of five.

Seattle starter Taijuan Walker survived a first-inning scare to throw 5 1/3 innings, allowing three runs off five hits. Walker (6-11) used his left forearm to knock down a hard line drive off the bat of Encarnacion in the first inning. Walker, who was protecting his midsection from taking the brunt of the hit, received a visit from a team trainer and was able to stay in the game.

"He did a good job hanging in there," Servais said. "That's all we ask: to compete. And he did that."

Toronto third baseman Josh Donaldson was ejected in the seventh inning for arguing a third-strike call. Donaldson took issue with the call from home-plate umpire Chris Conroy and had to be restrained by on-deck hitter Encarnacion and manager John Gibbons after his ejection.

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Mariners starting pitcher Taijuan Walker (44) reacts in the dugout after being relieved against the Toronto Blue Jays during the sixth inning at Safeco Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

The Blue Jays stole three bases, including two from Pillar after singles in the third and fourth innings.

Encarnacion gave the Blue Jays an early lead with a two-run homer in the top of the third inning. Encarnacion's 41st home run of the season, which tied him with Brian Dozier of the Twins for the second most in the American League, gave Toronto a 2-0 lead.

Pillar added an RBI single to put Toronto ahead 3-0 in the fourth. Pillar had two singles, two stolen bases, an RBI and a run scored in his first two at-bats.

Estrada retired the first 11 batters before issuing a two-out walk to Cano in the fourth inning, ending his bid for a perfect game. Mariners cleanup hitter Nelson Cruz followed that with another walk to put two runners on base, but a sliding catch from Pillar in center field ended that threat.

"Marco stepped up," manager John Gibbons said of his starter's seven-inning performance. "It reminded me a little bit of the playoff game in Kansas City, where he went deep in the game. And (Monday night), he got rewarded for it."

The Blue Jays fans at Safeco Field made sure Estrada heard their appreciation.

"We needed this," Estrada said. "We just have to build off this and keep going."

NOTES: As is annually the case, Blue Jays fans outnumbered Mariners fans at the game. As Canada's only major league team, Toronto draws fans from nearby Vancouver, British Columbia, and Victoria, British Columbia, creating one of the most fervent atmospheres at Safeco Field every season. ... The Blue Jays named longtime executive Paul Beeston the organization's president emeritus. ... Toronto has several ex-Mariners on its roster. OF Michael Saunders and 1B Justin Smoak played the bulk of their careers in Seattle, while LHP J.A. Happ, the Jays' Tuesday starter, was with the Mariners for the first half of last season. RHP R.A. Dickey also did a stint in Seattle, while veteran RHP Joaquin Benoit began this season with the Mariners before being traded for struggling RHP Drew Storen on July 25. Storen and Mariners 1B Adam Lind are both former Blue Jays.

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