Blue Jays blow out Mariners, Happ wins 20th
SEATTLE -- Toronto pitcher J.A. Happ became baseball's second 20-game winner as the Blue Jays used an eight-run fourth inning to blow out the Seattle Mariners 10-2 on Tuesday night.
Happ (20-4) pitched only five innings, allowing two runs off six hits, but didn't need his A-game on a night when Toronto piled up 14 hits, including four home runs.
The Blue Jays (83-68) moved into sole possession of the top spot in the American League wild-card standings, one game ahead of Baltimore. Seattle (79-72) is three games behind the Orioles in the race for the second and final spot.
Russell Martin, Michael Saunders, Josh Donaldson and Edwin Encarnacion each hit a home run for the Blue Jays, while teammate Kevin Pillar added three hits. Jose Bautista, Troy Tulowitzki and Ezekiel Carrera had two hits apiece. All nine players in the Blue Jays' starting lineup scored.
Encarnacion hit his 42nd home run of the season -- two behind American League leader Mark Trumbo -- and drove in three runs.
Robinson Cano went 2-for-4 and drove in the only two runs for the Mariners, who had seven hits in the loss and have now scored two runs or fewer in five of their past six games.
The Blue Jays scored eight runs in the fourth inning -- a frame that took nearly 40 minutes to complete, highlighted by towering two-run home runs from Martin and Saunders as they rallied from a 2-0 deficit.
Saunders, a former Mariner, broke a 2-2 tie with his 24th home run of the season, a 385-foot shot to right. Carrera added an RBI single two batters later and came around from first base to score on Devon Travis's pop-up single near the right-field line.
Encarnacion, who started the inning with a strikeout before nine consecutive batters reached base, added an RBI double in a frame that saw the Blue Jays pile up eight hits and a walk sandwiched between the first and second outs.
Martin's two-run homer tied the score 2-2 after Cano drove in two runs in the third with a strange, seeing-eye triple.
With two outs and runners on second and third, Cano hit a sharp grounder to the left of Toronto second baseman Travis, who slid to make a play on the ball -- only to have it bounce off his knee and fly all the way into the right-field corner.
Six consecutive Toronto hitters recorded hits to chase Seattle starter Hisashi Iwakuma in the fourth. Iwakuma allowed six runs (five earned) and eight hits over 3 1/3 innings. Mariners catcher Chris Iannetta misplayed a routine pop fly in foul territory, allowing Bautista to extend his at-bat and start the onslaught with a single.
NOTES: Toronto 1B Edwin Encarnacion entered the game with 41 home runs, two behind AL leader Mark Trumbo and one shy of his career high. ... Mariners slugger Nelson Cruz served as the designated hitter again Tuesday, the 29th consecutive game in which he was Seattle's DH. Cruz was the Mariners' Opening Day right fielder and was supposed to split time between the positions, but settled in as an everyday DH over the past five weeks. ... The Blue Jays and Mariners wrap up the three-game series Wednesday afternoon, when Toronto RHP Aaron Sanchez (13-2, 3.17 ERA) opposes Seattle RHP Felix Hernandez (11-6, 3.79 ERA). Both teams have Thursday off before Seattle opens a three-game series in Minnesota and the Blue Jays begin a four-game home series with the New York Yankees on Friday.