Edwin Encarnacion has gone deep in both games of the series to equal his career high of 42 homers and stands one behind Baltimore’s Mark Trumbo for the major-league lead.TV: 3:40 p.m. ET, MLB Network, Sportsnet (Toronto), ROOT (Seattle) PITCHING MATCHUP: Blue Jays RH Aaron Sanchez (13-2, 3.17 ERA) vs. Mariners RH Felix Hernandez (11-6, 3.79) Sanchez is pitching for the first time since September 11, when he was affected by a blister and gave up six runs and five hits in 3 2/3 innings of a no-decision against Boston.
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Monday’s game, a 3-2 Jays win, put a significant dent in Seattle’s chances of catching up, but it was thrilling, playoff-quality baseball, nonetheless. The Toronto Blue Jays offense has been cold recently, but they’ve won 10 of their last 13 games when scoring more than three runs.
It’s been a long, long time since the Toronto Blue Jays’ offence made a scoreboard spin like a Las Vegas slot machine.
Cano then followed with a run-scoring fly to left, quieting the decidedly pro-Blue Jays crowd, bolstered for the third straight game by thousands of fans from western Canada. The Blue Jays would open up their week at home against the pestering Tampa Bay Rays.
SEATTLE -The Blue Jays came within a whisker of accomplishing one of those signature victories here Wednesday afternoon, the kind of victory that can make the flight home seem as if they didn’t need an airplane.
The Blue Jays have their final off-day of the regular season Thursday before opening a four-game series against the New York Yankees on Friday when Liriano starts against Bryan Mitchell. Then, in the bottom of the ninth, with Seattle down to its last strike, Leonys Martin hit a two-run home run to bring the Mariners within one only for Osuna to strike out rookie Ben Gamel to end the game.
In the 10th inning, the Jays had a chance to take the lead. The Blue Jays’ second baseman slid to make a play on the ball, which ended up hitting Travis in the knee and bouncing into the right-field corner.
Usually I’d love to take an ace for a cheap price, but Hernandez has allowed six runs in three of his last four starts.
Weaver (12-12), who struck out six and allowed four runs, joined Chuck Finley (165) as the only pitchers to win 150 games for the Angels.
“The play (Freeman) made on Pillar, that’s the game, it was a hell of a play”, manager John Gibbons said. I expressed that to him; he has got to keep going. Josh Donaldson leads Toronto with 152 hits, Edwin Encarnacion has 123 RBI and Michael Saunders has 24 home runs. Ezequiel Carrera singled and that was all for Iwakuma.
As for Donaldson, had he not been battling injuries for much of the season, his impressive offensive numbers (Games: 143; At Bats: 534; Runs: 114; Hits; 151; Doubles; 29; Triples: 5; Home Runs: 34; Runs Batted In: 93; Walks 100; Bating Average:.283; On Base Percentage:.401; Slugging Percentage:.547 and OBP:.948) would have been even better.
“I just wanted him to hear from me that he did exactly what we asked him to do”, he said. “Unfortunately, the shutdown inning was nonexistent”. “If we get the lead and (Roberto) Osuna is still in the game”.
In that span, they hit about two balls that looked like hits. And they happen to be ahead of us. “I think that should be the focus”. But Russ lately has just been on fire, really turned his season around. “But we’ve seen him do that many, many times”.
SEATTLE: The Mariners are 8-2 in Iwakuma’s last 10 starts versus American League East opponents and are 8-2 in his last 10 home outings as well. “He put the ball wherever he wanted”.
“He’s the same guy we’ve always seen”, Robinson Cano said. “The first two games here, we played really, really well”.
Blue Jays: LHP J.A. Happ (19-4) goes for his 20th win.
Seattle will face the best for Toronto as well.
“I don’t think anyone three weeks ago thought this was going to be easy”, Servais said.
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Seattle will have two new minor league affiliates in 2017. Arkansas replaces Jackson, which won the Southern League title. Aaron Sanchez gets the nod, and he’s 13-2 with a 3.17 ERA and 140 strikeouts this season. The M’s will have to battle 19-game victor and former teammate J.A. Happ (19-4, 3.27 ERA).
