Lind beats M’s again
TORONTO – The Seattle Mariners have recorded a major league-high 33 one-run victories this year. As the season draws to an end, they’re starting to pile up one-run losses, too.
Pinch-hitter Adam Lind had a tying RBI single in the eighth inning and Rod Barajas followed with a go-ahead double, helping the Toronto Blue Jays rally for another dramatic 5-4 victory over the Mariners on Sunday. Seattle is 33-20 in one-run games.
“It’s tough when you lose games the way we have the last few days,” shortstop Josh Wilson said.
Toronto grabbed the lead with three runs in the eighth one day after Lind homered twice, including a game-ending solo drive in the 10th inning, to power the Blue Jays to a 5-4 win that included Seattle star Ichiro Suzuki’s first career ejection.
Seattle went 2-4 on its six-game road trip, including a 5-4 loss at Tampa Bay on Wednesday. In all three of those 5-4 defeats, the Mariners lost the lead in the eighth inning.
“On this road trip we’ve put ourselves in position to win a lot of games, maybe go 5-1 if we get out of the eighth inning,” manager Don Wakamatsu said. “But we had three games this road trip with eighth-inning struggles. You can’t do that, obviously, against good-hitting clubs and good ballclubs.”
Matt Tuiasosopo hit his first career home run, one of four solo shots by Seattle. Kenji Johjima, Franklin Gutierrez and Mike Sweeney also went deep.
“When a guy’s pitching like Rowland-Smith out there, you need to be able to tack on some other runs with that,” Wakamatsu said.
Rowland-Smith (4-4) allowed five runs and seven hits in seven-plus innings.
Blue Jays 5, M’s 4
| Seattle | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. |
| I.Suzuki rf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .351 |
| F.Gutierrez cf | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .282 |
| Jo.Lopez 1b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .272 |
| M.Sweeney dh | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .283 |
| Beltre 3b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .259 |
| Hall lf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .209 |
| Johjima c | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .251 |
| Tuiasosopo 2b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .263 |
| Jo.Wilson ss | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .224 |
| b-Griffey Jr. ph | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .214 |
| 1-M.Saundrs pr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .227 |
| Totals | 34 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 7 |
| Toronto | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. |
| J.Bautista rf | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .234 |
| A.Hill 2b | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .285 |
| Encarnacion 3b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .229 |
| V.Wells cf | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .262 |
| R.Ruiz dh | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .276 |
| a-Lind ph-dh | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .302 |
| Barajas c | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .231 |
| Millar 1b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .210 |
| Snider lf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .239 |
| Jo.McDonald ss | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .240 |
| Totals | 32 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 5 |
| Seattle | 000 | 030 | 010—4 | 7 | 0 |
| Toronto | 000 | 000 | 23x—5 | 9 | 0 |
b-singled for Jo.Wilson in the 9th. 1-ran for Griffey Jr. in the 9th. LOB—Seattle 7, Toronto 5. 2B—R.Ruiz (4), Barajas (19), Jo.McDonald (7). HR—Johjima (9), off Tallet; Tuiasosopo (1), off Tallet; F.Gutierrez (18), off Tallet; M.Sweeney (8), off Wolfe. RBIs—F.Gutierrez (65), M.Sweeney (32), Johjima (22), Tuiasosopo (2), J.Bautista (30), Lind (110), Barajas 2 (68), Millar (28). SF—Barajas. RLSP—Seattle 1 (Tuiasosopo); Toronto 2 (Millar 2).
| Seattle | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | NP | ERA |
|
Rowland- Smith L, 4-4 |
7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 114 | 3.91 |
| Batista BS, 4-4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 4.19 |
| Toronto | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | NP | ERA |
| Tallet | 7 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 110 | 5.32 |
| Wolfe W, 2-2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 8.79 |
| Camp S, 1-1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 3.16 |
Rowland-Smith pitched to 3 batters in the 8th. IR-S—Batista 2-2. HBP—by Tallet (Beltre, I.Suzuki). T—2:32. A—39,052 (49,539).