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Seattle Mariners

Blue Jays rally to get past Mariners

Smoak’s 11th home run provided short-lived lead

Brett Lawrie’s triple ignited Toronto’s decisive three-run eighth. (Associated Press)

SEATTLE – Mark DeRosa’s pinch-hit, two-run single in the eighth inning gave the Toronto Blue Jays and R.A. Dickey a 3-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Monday night.

Dickey (9-11) went 7 2/3 innings, allowing one run on eight hits. The knuckleballer struck out five and walked two to earn his first win since July 1. Casey Janssen worked the ninth for his 20th save in 22 opportunities.

Hisashi Iwakuma (10-5), who pitched 7 1/3 innings, took the loss. He allowed two runs on four hits, striking out two and walked a season-high three.

Justin Smoak hit his 11th home run in the seventh to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead. Since July 1, Smoak is batting .327 with 16 runs, eight doubles, five homers and 13 RBI. After Smoak’s home run, the Jays responded with their three-run eighth-inning rally. Brett Lawrie opened with a triple into the right-center gap.

With one out, Jose Reyes lined an RBI single to center, ending Iwakuma’s outing.

Yoervis Medina then complicated the situation for the M’s, giving up a single to Jose Bautista. Both advanced on Medina’s wild pitch. Edward Encarnacion walked to load the bases.

Oliver Perez entered as did DeRosa, who lined his go-ahead single to left on an 0-2 pitch. DeRosa is 5-of-14 as a pinch hitter this season with six RBIs.

The Mariners tried to put together a rally in the third. Humberto Quintero opened with a ground-rule double that bounced over the left-field wall. With one out, Kyle Seager singled to right, with Quintero holding at third.

But Kendrys Morales hit a two-hopper to third baseman Lowrie, who dived to his left, and from his knees started a 5-4-3 double play, ending the threat.

The Blue Jays walked into a Iwakuma-induced threat in the fourth. With two outs, Iwakuma walked Bautista. Iwakuma is third in the A.L. with fewest walks per nine innings at 1.44.

He then walked Encarnacion, the first time he has walked two batters in an inning this season. He then induced Adam Lind to bounce out to second.

Manager Eric Wedge, who suffered a mild stroke July 22 and has missed 13 games, will miss more. There was hope he could rejoin the team by this homestand but acting manager Robby Thompson said, “he’s doing well. It is a slow process … when that time is, we’re not really sure.”