Ex-M’s Morales, Smoak both homer in Blue Jays’ 4-2 win
Published 1:30 am Saturday, June 10, 2017
Associated Press
SEATTLE — Ezequiel Carrera led off the eighth inning with his fifth homer of the season to break a 2-all tie, Kendrys Morales and Justin Smoak each added long balls and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Seattle Mariners 4-2 on Saturday night.
Morales’ two-run shot in the fourth inning, his 12th of the season, stood as Toronto’s only hit until the seventh. After Seattle pulled even at 2-all, Carrera drove a sinker from Tony Zych (2-2) that stayed in the middle of the plate deep to right field, generating a huge roar from the thousands of Toronto fans in town for the weekend series.
Smoak added one more jolt, hitting his 18th homer leading off the ninth inning.
Toronto starter Marcus Stroman (7-2) was outstanding, winning his sixth straight decision. Stroman allowed one earned run in seven innings, and it took the help of two errors on one play for Seattle to score its second run and pull even.
Joe Smith got out of a jam in the eighth by striking out Kyle Seager and getting Taylor Motter to ground out after Seattle had runners at the corners and one out. Roberto Osuna pitched the ninth for his 15th save.
Stroman struck out six and walked none, and the Blue Jays have won the last seven games he has started. Seattle’s only earned run off Stroman came on back-to-back singles by Nelson Cruz and Seager in the second inning, helped by a wild pitch that got Cruz into scoring position.
The run Seattle got to pull even in the seventh came in the most unlikely of ways. Dyson led off with a single and stole second base early in the at-bat to Carlos Ruiz. Russell Martin’s throw was low and skipped into the outfield, allowing Dyson to advance. But Kevin Pillar also misplayed the ball in center field, and Dyson never stopped at third base, scoring on a play more common to Little League than the majors.
Seattle starter Ariel Miranda allowed just two hits in 6 1/3 innings but was pulled in the seventh after issuing his fifth walk of the game, setting a new career high.
