Hernandez pitched seven strong innings to pick up his 12th win of the season, Trumbo gave Seattle the lead with a two-run homer and the Mariners beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-2. The Mariners are a distant 9 1/2 games behind Houston for the AL’s second wild-card spot while experiencing a highly disappointing campaign.
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For Mariners ace Hernandez, other than the unusual first inning sprinkled with defensive mental and physical gaffes and aside from a long Jose Bautista blast in the sixth, King Felix was his usual shutdown self for seven innings.
As has become customary when the Blue Jays visit Seattle, thousands of blue-clad Toronto fans filled Safeco Field with loud support for the visiting team – including a hearty chant of “M-V-P” when third baseman Josh Donaldson came to bat. Toronto 1B Justin Smoak was hitless in four at-bats against his former club and is 1-for-15 over his past five appearances.3. Seth Smith led off the inning with an infield single that quickly scored from a Mark Trumbo opposite-field home run. He received a no-decision against the New York Yankees in his last turn when he gave up one run and five hits in six innings. He gave up six hits and struck out seven, lowering his ERA to 2.69. It was Bautista’s 224th homer with Toronto, moving him into second place in franchise history. The very next batter, Robinson Cano, hit a triple to end Marco’s day.
Smoak said that “at times” he grew frustrated with trying to hit at Safeco – “there’s guys there that will tell you now they get frustrated with it”, he said – but he “loved playing here”. Mariners 5, Blue Jays 1.
Charlie Furbush, the Mariners’ dependable but now injured lefty reliever, had a setback in his recovery from biceps tendinitis and “hasn’t progressed as well as we thought he would”, McClendon said. The Mariners are hoping he’ll get some flat-ground throwing in the next few days and will likely need a rehab assignment before rejoining the rotation.
Hutchison was supposed to start against the Athletics on Thursday, but he was pushed back to Friday due to flulike symptoms. The right-hander has a 9-2 record despite a 5.19 ERA. Game two of the series will get underway tomorrow at 4:10 PM eastern time, with J.A. Happ expected to start for the Mariners. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article.
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