Blue Jays 7, Mariners 2
Blue Jays 7, Mariners 2: Edwin Encarnacion homered for the third straight day and Henderson Alvarez pitched six strong innings as host Toronto took the rubber game from Seattle.
Brett Lawrie added a two-run double and Kelly Johnson chipped in an RBI for the Blue Jays.
Encarnacion, who hit a grand slam in Saturday’s win, blasted his seventh homer in the sixth inning to snap a 1-1 deadlock. Jason Vargas served up a 1-1 changeup that stayed out over the plate and Encarnacion took it over the wall in left-center field.
The Mariners got their lone run when Chone Figgins led off the game with a home run but struggled to get anything else going against Alvarez (1-2). The 22-year old right-hander allowed a run on six hits while walking three and striking out a batter to notch his second career win.
Toronto finally got to Vargas in the fifth, tying it up when Johnson’s two-out single scored Colby Rasmus.
Vargas (3-2) ended up charged with two runs on four hits in six innings.
Lawrie’s double, plus a two-run homer from Jeff Mathis during a five-run eighth, put the game away for the Blue Jays.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Toronto slugger Jose Bautista went 1-for-4 with a single, lifting his average to .190. Bautista has not had a multi-hit game since Opening Day. … Encarnacion, who also walked twice and was hit by a pitch on Sunday, is batting .310 and 15 of his 27 hits have gone for extra bases. … Miguel Olivo homered in the ninth for the Mariners, his second. … Seattle announced on Sunday that lefty George Sherrill would undergo Tommy John surgery early next month.