TORONTO - The Mariners had this one in hand for a while. Then the fifth inning arrived, the walks piled up, and Seattle handed Toronto a game it should have been able to finish.
Seattle built a 3-0 lead Saturday afternoon at Rogers Centre, but the Blue Jays chipped away, then grabbed control and held on for a 4-3 win. It was the Mariners’ second straight loss in Toronto after dropping Friday’s game 8-1.
The result left Seattle at 64-72, while Toronto moved to 67-70. The Blue Jays are still trying to stay in range of the final wild card spot, while the Mariners are now waiting on the Houston-Mets result to see exactly where they stand after entering the day 4.0 games behind Houston.
Cal Raleigh kept doing what he’s been doing against Toronto. He launched a solo homer off Jose Soriano in the top of the second, his 11th career home run at Rogers Centre.
That is his most at any ballpark other than T-Mobile Park, where he has 76. Raleigh now has 19 home runs on the season and is one away from becoming the fourth Mariners player to reach 20 this year, joining Julio Rodriguez, Dominic Canzone and Randy Arozarena.
He also added a single and a walk.
Taylor Ward came through with a much-needed swing in the fifth. After Josh Naylor singled, Raleigh walked and Cole Young followed with another walk, Ward lined a two-run single that stretched Seattle’s lead to 3-0.
That cushion didn’t last long.
Kade Anderson, making his second career start, worked 4.1 innings and threw a season-high 84 pitches. He showed solid command of his pitch mix and wasn’t shy about challenging Toronto hitters.
Anderson allowed three hits and two earned runs, though both runs scored after he left the game. He walked three and struck out three.
The trouble really started after Anderson exited with runners on first and second and one out in the fifth. Eduard Bazardo came in and struck out Alejandro Kirk, but then walked Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to load the bases.
George Springer came up next in a rematch of the ALCS Game 7 matchup with Bazardo, and this time Springer didn’t go deep - he walked. Raleigh couldn’t handle the ball, a run scored on the walk, then another run came home on the wild pitch.
Brett Bateman would have been out by 15 feet, but Bazardo never realized he needed to apply the tag.
Seattle’s problems with the strike zone didn’t stop there. In the sixth, with the Mariners still ahead 3-2, Jose Ferrer walked the leadoff man and later issued another walk with two outs. The first of those runners scored on a Bateman single to tie the game, and the second came around on an Alejandro Kirk single that put Toronto in front 4-3.
The Blue Jays also added a little extra frustration on the bases. George Springer, who is 36 years old and no longer known as a good runner with bad feet, stole a base.
Alejandro Kirk, who had one career stolen base before this game, also stole one. The crowd gave Kirk a standing ovation, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. laughed and tipped his cap to him from the batter’s box.
Seattle still had a chance in the eighth. Julio Rodriguez walked with two outs against Tyler Rogers, and Toronto turned to left-hander Mason Fluharty after that. Josh Naylor followed with a single to put runners on the corners, but Raleigh struck out swinging on a 91.3 mph cutter to end the inning.
Before the game, Toronto inducted Buck Martinez into the team’s new Hall of Excellence. The Blue Jays had previously used a Level of Excellence, but upgraded to a Hall for the franchise’s 50th season, and it opened Saturday. Several members of the existing Level of Excellence were on hand, and Martinez delivered what was described as an excellent speech.
Soriano earned the win for Toronto after allowing three earned runs in seven innings and striking out six. Ferrer took the loss, giving up the two runs in the sixth and falling to 4-3 with a 3.83 ERA.
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