Jays post eye-opening win over M’s

TORONTO – The way Dustin McGowan has pitched while wearing his new glasses, he may never take them off again.

McGowan threw his third career complete game, and Vernon Wells and Brad Wilkerson each homered to lead the Toronto Blue Jays to a speedy 3-1 win over the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night.

McGowan, who has long had problems seeing in low-light conditions, visited a doctor during spring training and received his new glasses before a start May 30 against the Los Angeles Angels. He’s gone 2-0 with a 2.40 ERA in two night starts since donning the specs.

“I can’t see at night because of glare and shadows, so when they’re giving signs, it’s hard to see,” McGowan said. “I think my catchers got tired of me crossing them up, so I went and saw a doctor and a specialist for them. I might just wear them every game from here on out.”

Still, the new eyewear has taken some getting used to.

“They kind of wiggle round a little bit, sweat gets on them,” McGowan said. “I’ve got to learn how to deal with that.”

McGowan (5-4) retired the final 10 batters as the Blue Jays needed just 2 hours, 2 minutes to hand the Mariners their seventh loss in nine games. Seattle is 3-23 when scoring fewer than four runs.

“It was a dominating performance,” Wilkerson said of McGowan’s effort. “He’s got great stuff. He really went after the hitters tonight. It’s great for this organization to have a young guy like that who can go out there and give you that kind of performance.”

The Jays right-hander allowed five hits in his third win in four starts. McGowan struck out seven and walked two. He is 4-1 with a 1.73 ERA in six home starts this season.

“You always hear the saying ‘home field advantage,’ ” McGowan said. “You pitch here more than any other stadium so you kind of get accustomed to it and get used to pitching here. It just makes it a little bit easier.”

Wilkerson hit a tiebreaking homer in the fifth against the team that cut him earlier this season. Wilkerson signed a one-year, $3-million free-agent deal with the Mariners in January, but was designated for assignment April 30 after hitting just .232 in 19 games. He is batting .243 with three homers and 19 RBIs since joining Toronto May 9.

“I’m not going to lie to you, (it feels good) to come out and perform good against this team,” Wilkerson said.

The Blue Jays took a 1-0 lead in the second when Wells led off with a homer to straightway center, his seventh and second in four games since returning from a broken wrist.

Seattle tied it when Jeremy Reed opened the fifth with a drive to right, his second. It was the first homer McGowan had allowed at home this season, ending a stretch of 362/3 innings.

“He has an electric fastball,” Reed said of McGowan. “He was tough all game long. Later on in the game, his changeup got a lot better, too. That’s what he ended up striking me out with my last at-bat. It had a lot of movement.”

The Mariners missed a chance to tie it in the sixth when Raul Ibanez doubled and moved to third on a groundout. Jose Lopez struck out and, after Reed walked, Richie Sexson flied out to end the inning.

“It’s been a tough go for us,” Mariners manager John McLaren said of his team’s struggles in the clutch. “We know we can do a better job. It’s something that’s been our Achilles’ heel for a while, something we address and talk about all the time. It’s not something you just talk about. We need to do it.”

Seattle’s inability to capitalize proved costly in the bottom half when Toronto added an insurance run. Matt Stairs doubled over the head of Reed in right and scored on Scott Rolen’s single. Wells singled to put runners at second and third, but Lyle Overbay ended the inning by grounding into a double play.

Mariners right-hander Carlos Silva (3-7) came in having lost six of seven starts and leading the American League with 51 earned runs. The struggling Silva allowed 25 earned runs in his previous four outings.

Silva was better in this one, but he still failed to win for the first time since April 17 at Oakland. He allowed three runs and nine hits in seven innings, walked none and struck out three.

“It’s hard because when you don’t win, you don’t feel like you did the job,” Silva said.