Pint-hitter Santiago Espinal gave the team a lead with a single in the seventh inning, stopper Jordan Romano broke the deadlock in the ninth and the Toronto Blue Jays avoided a sweep on Sunday with a 4-3 win over the Seattle Mariners.
The Mariners put runners on second and third bases with one out in the second half of the ninth inning. However, Romano struck out Julio Rodriguez with a slippery ball before forcing Eugenio Suarez to hit a fly ball to left field.
Suddenly, Romano deserved his 27e rescue of the season. “It takes a certain mindset to do that against the middle of their batting role,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said of Romano.
“He really gives the impression of taking his game up a notch and never losing focus. He’s one of the best (stoppers) in the league for a reason.
On the offensive end, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Brandon Belt both homered in a second straight game. In doing so, they helped their team rebound after they squandered late leads on Friday and Saturday en route to one-point losses.
Besides, once again, the two clubs were involved in a close battle. Of the last 11 games the Blue Jays and Mariners have met, 10 have been decided by a run or extra innings, including all six meetings between the two clubs this season.
“It’s been a fantastic series,” said Mariners manager Scott Servais. “Every game was decided on the last pitch. Our guys really gave their all. We would have liked a little more magic at the end of the match. It just didn’t happen today.”
The Blue Jays’ decisive push began when Whit Merrifield started the seventh inning with a walk. He made it to second base on a sacrifice bunt from Daulton Varsho before scoring the Blue Jays’ fourth run on Espinal’s hit against Tayler Saucedo.
Guerrero Jr. had the Blue Jays tied the score at 2-2 in the fourth inning with a two-run slap that just flew over the right field fence.
This was his 17e homer of the season and his fourth in nine games since winning the home run contest at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game about two weeks ago in Seattle.
Belt gave the Blue Jays a 55-45 lead with his solo slap in the sixth inning. The ball first hit the glove of right fielder Teoscar Hernandez, who had jumped in the air hoping to catch it. It was Belt’s eighth home run in 2023.
The Mariners tied the score in their turn at bat in the sixth on a single from pinch-hitter Dylan Moore after two outs.
Mike Ford scored the first two runs of the game for the Mariners with a home run, his 11th of the season, late in the second inning.
Reliever Tir Mayza (2-1) was credited with the win. The loss went to rookie gunner Bryan Woo (1-3).
Also, in his third start since returning to the Blue Jays after being demoted to the minor leagues, Alek Manoah was down three in five and a third innings.
The Blue Jays’ win was their first on Mariners home ground since Aug. 15, 2021. The Toronto squad had lost its last six outings at T-Mobile Park.
Starting Monday, the Blue Jays begin a three-game series in Los Angeles against the Dodgers.