Mariners 14, Blue Jays 5 – At Toronto: Nelson Cruz hit his ninth career grand slam and added a three-run shot, and Hisashi Iwakuma pitched six innings to win his fifth straight start in Seattle’s victory over Toronto.
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DODGERS 7, CARDINALS 2: Adrian Gonzalez hit his eighth home run, red-hot Justin Turner got two more RBI and Los Angeles won on the road, ending the Cardinals’ five-game winning streak. He has 25 home runs this season, the fourth-highest total in the AL.
Miley gave up two runs over six innings for his second straight quality start, which should help boost his trade value this week among the many clubs seeking rotation help prior to the August 1 non-waiver trade deadline.
“All over baseball there probably hasn’t been a more consistent starter”, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “He’s having a tremendous season”.
Happ allowed Seattle’s lone hit, a single by Leonys Martin in the third. The right-handed knuckleballer hit two batters and struck out three.
“One is his role”, Atkins said in identifying what might have gone wrong for Storen. We got a bunch of ground ball base hits through the holes and it was a good offensive day for us.
Toronto closer Roberto Osuna pitched a ideal ninth inning to pick up his 20th save of the season.
The shutout was Toronto’s sixth. Iannetta doubled to a gap in left-centre. Toronto lost 14-5 to Seattle on Saturday. Cruz, who is now batting.288/.372/.548, also has 65 RBIs on the season, the same number as teammate Kyle Seager, who went 2 for 5 with two RBIs on Saturday.
The Mariners just had no answers for Happ, whom they acquired after the 2014 season in a trade for outfielder Michael Saunders.
Encarnacion opened the scoring with a two-out drive to center in the fourth, his 27th. Blue Jays RF Jose Bautista (toe) is expected to return on Monday after missing the last 30 games.3.
Toronto doubled its lead in the sixth. After Norichika Aoki got on base on a fielder’s choice, Dickey hit Seth Smith with a pitch. The Mariners challenged umpire Jordan Baker’s call, but replays upheld the call. Ioki scored when Cruz hit into a double-play.
“Something to build off, keep going in the right direction”, Miley said. “I know his pitch count got up a little but that was the inning that got him right where he needed to be”. The Mariners are 15-7 against the East.
Storen has shown flashes of effectiveness but the overall body of work – a 6.21 ERA and 1.590 WHIP in 33.1 innings over 38 games despite 8.6 strikeouts per nine – made this move inevitable. He hopes Ona will play in the fall instructional league and then report for spring training and start his pro career next season. Heading into the game, the current Mariners lineup was hitting a combined. Rollins was optioned to Tacoma Wednesday when RHP Felix Hernandez was reinstated from the DL.
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Pirates 7, Phillies 4 – At Pittsburgh: Gregory Polanco and David Freese hit two-run singles during a five-run fifth inning to rally and Pittsburgh beat Philadelphia after top Pirates prospect Tyler Glasnow was removed with shoulder discomfort.
