Pinch hitter Santiago Espinal drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the host Seattle Mariners 4-3 on Sunday afternoon to salvage the finale of a three-game series.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Brandon Belt both homered for the second consecutive day for the Blue Jays, who extended their lead over Seattle to 4 1/2 games in the race for the American League’s third and final wild-card playoff berth.
Mike Ford went deep for the Mariners, who had a three-game winning streak snapped and finished 5-5 on their 10-game homestand.
Reliever Tim Mayza (2-1) earned the victory and Jordan Romano pitched an eventful ninth for his 27th save. Romano hit leadoff batter Dylan Moore with a pitch and walked Kolten Wong. J.P. Crawford’s sacrifice bunt advanced both runners before Romano struck out Julio Rodriguez and got Eugenio Suarez to fly out to left.
With the score tied at 3-3 entering the seventh, Whit Merrifield led off for Toronto by drawing a walk against Mariners starter Bryan Woo (1-3). Daulton Varsho greeted reliever Tayler Saucedo with a sacrifice bunt. Pinch hitter Alejandro Kirk walked before Espinal grounded a run-scoring single into left field.
Woo, a rookie right-hander, went six-plus innings and gave up four runs on four hits. He walked one and struck out seven.
The Mariners opened the scoring in the second. Cal Raleigh grounded a leadoff single into right field and, an out later, Ford hit a fastball off the “Hit It Here Cafe” on the second deck in right field.
Woo retired the first nine batters he faced before hitting George Springer with a pitch leading off the fourth. Woo struck out the next two hitters before Guerrero hit a two-run shot just over the wall in right to tie the score 2-2.
With one out in the sixth, Belt went deep to right-center to give the Blue Jays a 3-2 lead, the ball glancing off the heel of the glove of leaping outfielder Teoscar Hernandez on its way over the fence.
Blue Jays starter Alek Manoah allowed three runs on three hits over 5 1/3 innings. The right-hander walked four and fanned six.
–Field Level Media
