Mariners get Moyer to milestone
SEATTLE – Jamie Moyer pitched six solid innings for his 131st win with Seattle, passing Randy Johnson to become the club’s career leader as the Mariners beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 on Monday night at Safeco Field.
Richie Sexson hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs for the Mariners, who won their third straight, matching a season high.
The 42-year-old Moyer (5-2) improved his record in Seattle to 131-70 in 277 games. Over 20 major league seasons, he’s 197-147. Johnson, 41, was 130-74 with Seattle from 1989-98, pitching in 274 games. He’s 251-131 in 18 major league seasons.
Moyer allowed one run and four hits with two walks and two strikeouts, but reliever Julio Mateo made things interesting when he gave up two solo home runs while recording only two outs in the seventh inning.
Pinch-hitter Orlando Hudson led off the seventh with a homer to right. Two outs later, Reed Johnson went deep to left to get the Blue Jays within 4-3. Mateo was pulled for J.J. Putz, who got Aaron Hill to ground out.
Putz and Matt Thornton combined for 1 1/3 scoreless innings, then turned it over to closer Eddie Guardado. Making his 700th appearance, Guardado worked the ninth inning for his 14th save in 15 opportunities.
Moyer outlasted Toronto’s Ted Lilly (3-5), another lefty. It shaped up as a pitching duel through the early innings, until the Mariners took a 3-0 lead in the fourth.
Randy Winn singled to center leading off, the first hit Lilly allowed. Adrian Beltre grounded to first – bouncing it off Lilly’s leg – before Sexson drove an 0-1 pitch an estimated 428 feet into the upper deck in left.
Raul Ibanez lined the very next pitch into right for a single, Bret Boone drew a walk and Jeremy Reed followed with an RBI single to right.
Lilly, who had won two straight starts, pitched 4 2/3 innings, allowing four runs and six hits with three walks and three strikeouts. The Blue Jays dropped to 5-5 when he starts.
Toronto made it 3-1 in the fifth when John McDonald’s one-out sacrifice fly scored Frank Menechino.
Sexson hit a one-out RBI single in Seattle’s half of the fifth, putting the Mariners up 4-1. Ichiro Suzuki led off with a single to center, Winn walked, and Suzuki took third on Beltre’s fly.
Notes
Reed made a backpedaling catch to take a hit away from Toronto CF Vernon Wells for the third out in the fourth. Reed was greeted with a standing ovation as he arrived at the dugout. … Hudson’s homer was the first pinch-hit shot for the Blue Jays this season, as well as the first of his career. … Beltre is five hits from 1,000 and Suzuki needs 11. … The Mariners are 4-1 with 42-year-old Pat Borders catching. He was obtained May 19 from Milwaukee.