TORONTO – J.J. Putz is making the ninth inning easy for Mariners manager John McLaren.
Putz earned his 29th save, Miguel Batista got his 10th win and Seattle beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-2 on Friday night.
“It’s an eight-inning game,” McLaren said. “If we get to J.J. in the ninth, we like our chances a lot. I feel real good when J.J. comes in.”
McLaren isn’t the only one breathing easy.
“It’s good to know our bullpen is as strong as it is,” said Seattle’s Adrian Beltre, who hit a two-run homer. “When you get the lead late in a ballgame, you’re able to relax.”
Putz extended his streak of scoreless innings to 22. He also has converted 31 chances in a row dating to last season. Both are the longest active streaks in the major leagues.
With a runner on, Putz retired Gregg Zaun and pinch-hitter Matt Stairs to end it. The right-hander said having the confidence to go after hitters has led to his success this season.
“You don’t want to nibble,” Putz said. “You want to be aggressive and go after guys and let them hit the ball, put it in play early and get quick outs.”
Toronto’s Lyle Overbay, who began the ninth with a grounder, said Putz’s stuff is hard to handle.
“He’s got a commanding fastball,” Overbay said. “He can place that anywhere he wants to. His splitter just looks so good coming in there and then, when it gets to you, it just drops off the table.”
Raul Ibanez and Jose Guillen hit consecutive RBI singles in the fifth for Seattle.
Batista (10-7) won for the third time in four starts, allowing two runs and five hits over 52/3 innings. He walked three and struck out six.
Sean Green replaced Batista in the sixth and retired all four batters he faced before Chris Reitsma worked the eighth.
“I can’t say enough good things about our bullpen, the way they’ve pitched this year,” McLaren said. “They’re a big part of our success.”
Batista walked the bases loaded on 12 pitches in the second but got a break when Zaun grounded into a double play, scoring Frank Thomas. Batista escaped further damage when John McDonald struck out.
“That was huge, no question,” McLaren said.
Batista blamed his wildness on dehydration, saying he hasn’t felt well since the Mariners flew into Toronto on Thursday.
“You definitely know you’re in trouble when your pitching coach comes out and says, ‘You’ve got to throw your changeup harder,’” Batista said. “I go, ‘My changeup? That was my fastball.’”
Beltre erased the 1-0 deficit in the fourth when he followed a walk to Guillen with a home run to center, his 15th.
Seattle added two more in the fifth. Yuniesky Betancourt and Ichiro Suzuki walked, Jose Vidro sacrificed and Ibanez and Guillen hit successive RBI singles.
That chased rookie right-hander Jesse Litsch, who allowed four runs, five hits and four walks in 41/3 innings. Litsch (2-4) struck out two and lost for the third time in four starts.
Toronto made it 4-2 in the sixth when Alex Rios doubled and scored on a single by Troy Glaus.
The Blue Jays finished 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and are batting .128 (6-for-47) in such situations over the past five games.
Zaun threw out pinch-runner Jason Ellison on an attempted steal of second in the eighth, ending a streak of 27 consecutive stolen bases against Toronto, the longest run in the majors.
Suzuki finished 1-for-3 with a walk and is 10 hits shy of 1,500 for his career.
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