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M’s whacked out

Toronto's Carlos Delgado, who blew two bases-loaded opportunities earlier, hits a game-winning three-run homer against Seattle in the ninth. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press
Toronto's Carlos Delgado, who blew two bases-loaded opportunities earlier, hits a game-winning three-run homer against Seattle in the ninth. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

TORONTO — Carlos Delgado didn’t care that fans booed him after he popped out with the bases loaded in the first and second innings by swinging at the first pitch.

He wasn’t about to change his approach.

Delgado hit a first-pitch fastball for a three-run homer in the ninth inning to rally the Toronto Blue Jays to a 10-8 victory over the struggling Seattle Mariners on Thursday night.

“In the same game you’re terrible and you’re a hero,” Delgado said. “That’s their opinion. They can do what they want. Hopefully, we’ll have more people in here either cheering or booing. That’s something. That would be nice.”

A crowd of 16,188 saw Toronto complete a three-game sweep of the Mariners, who have lost six straight, matching their longest losing streak of the season. Seattle has been swept six times this season.

Down 8-6 in the ninth, Dave Berg hit the 13th pitch he saw for a homer off Eddie Guardado (2-1) with one out. Chris Gomez followed with a single, but Orlando Hudson struck out for the second out. Reed Johnson singled before Delgado homered into the second deck in right field.

“I got a chance in the ninth and I made it count,” Delgado said.

Delgado, eligible for free agency this fall, was activated from the disabled list Tuesday after missing 33 games with a strained rib cage. He was second in A.L. MVP voting last year after hitting .302 with 42 homers and a major league-leading 145 RBIs.

Justin Speier (2-5) pitched the ninth for the win.

Seattle’s Edgar Martinez drove in two runs to become the career RBI leader among designated hitters (979), one more than Harold Baines.

At 32-51, the Mariners are 19 games below .500 for the first time since Aug. 6, 1994 (44-63).

“We’ve played terrible in the first half, as bad as we can play,” Seattle second baseman Bret Boone said. “The majority of the guys in this room have won 300 games the last three years. I don’t know why it has gone this way, we just haven’t done our job.”

Seattle’s Randy Winn hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the eighth. Winn went 4 for 5 with four RBIs for the Mariners, who were down 6-5 before pinch-hitter Dave Hanson hit an RBI single and Winn homered off Chulk.

Toronto’s Josh Phelps hit a three-run triple in the fifth, giving the Lakeland HS graduate 13 RBIs in three games. Phelps went 6 for 9 in the series, raising his average to .246.

Martinez’s RBI single and John Olerud’s sacrifice fly gave Seattle a 2-0 lead in the first, and Winn had a two-run double in the second.

Seattle starter Ryan Franklin hit Johnson with a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom half, scoring Phelps.

Toronto’s Alex Rios hit an RBI single in the third, cutting Seattle’s lead to 4-2.

Delgado, Eric Hinske and Rios singled in the fifth before Phelps’ triple into the gap in right-center field. Berg followed with a sacrifice fly, giving Toronto a 6-4 lead.

Martinez cut it to 6-5 with an RBI single off Bob File in the seventh.

Notes

After Phelps drove in a career-high seven RBIs on Wednesday, Toronto manager Carlos Tosca started Phelps against a right-hander. Phelps has been limited to facing left-handers for the past month because of his struggles against righties.