Mariners at Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners have taken turns winning on the strength of grand slams in the first two games of their series. The Mariners took the opener on a 10th-inning slam by Michael Saunders and Edwin Encarnacion sparked the Blue Jays' offense with his slam in Saturday’s 7-0 triumph. Encarnacion’s production is particularly important for Toronto, which is getting very little from slugger Jose Bautista.
Bautista went 1-for-4 with an RBI on Saturday but has not had a multi-hit game since opening day and is batting .187 with three home runs. The top three hitters in the Toronto lineup - Yunel Escobar, Kelly Johnson and Bautista - are all hitting .243 or worse. Seattle has its own hole in the middle of the lineup in Justin Smoak, whose 0-for-4 effort Saturday dropped him to .187. Saturday’s loss snapped a season-high four-game winning streak for the Mariners. They had averaged 7.5 runs during the streak.
TV: 1:07 p.m. ET, ROOT (Seattle), RSN (Toronto)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Mariners LH Jason Vargas (3-1, 3.45 ERA) vs. Blue Jays RH Henderson Alvarez (0-2, 4.10 ERA)
Vargas has allowed two runs or less in three of his five turns and got the win at Detroit on Tuesday despite surrendering four runs in six frames. The 29-year-old left-hander has never beaten Toronto, owning an 0-2 mark with a 7.52 ERA. Bautista is 1-for-7 with a homer and six walks off Vargas while Encarnacion is 4-for12 with a homer and four RBIs.
Alvarez has been the victim of poor support in most of his starts. The 22-year-old surrendered only two runs and five hits in seven innings at Baltimore on Tuesday but was still saddled with the loss in a 2-1 final. He made one start against the Mariners in his 2011 rookie campaign, allowing four runs over five innings in a no decision.
WALK-OFFS
1. Encarnacion leads the Blue Jays with six home runs. Fourteen of his 26 hits have gone for extra bases.
2. Toronto prospect Travis Snider had an MRI on his wrist come back negative. He will miss a week but should be back shortly after.
3. Chone Figgins and Ichiro Suzuki were the only two starters not to record a strikeout for the Mariners on Saturday.