Mariners 4 - 3 Blue Jays
Final
  for this game

Hernandez, M's hold off Blue Jays

May 23, 2015 - 4:42 AM Toronto, ON (SportsNetwork.com) - Felix Hernandez became the first seven game winner in the majors after tossing seven solid innings to guide the Seattle Mariners to a 4-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday.

Edwin Encarnacion's first-inning home run was the only blemish for Hernandez (7-1), who allowed just four hits and two walks with eight strikeouts.

Coming off his first loss of the season and facing a team that has gotten the best of him historically, Hernandez settled down after the early homer and was his usual dominant self. He didn't allow more than one baserunner in any inning and induced a pair of inning-ending double play grounders to quell Toronto's only threats.

Hernandez's counterpart Marco Estrada (1-3) yielded all four runs on six hits over seven innings. Toronto lost its fourth straight game with Estrada on the hill.

The Mariners got to Estrada with two outs in the fourth inning. Kyle Seager started the rally with an infield single and Welington Castillo walked to set up Logan Morrison's two-run triple to right. Mike Zunino followed with a ground-rule double to make it 3-1.

"(Morrison) is a baseball player, in every sense of the word," said Mariners Lloyd McClendon. "Right now he's using the entire field to hit."

Nelson Cruz led off the sixth inning with his major-league leading 17th home run to produce a crucial insurance run.

Carson Smith relieved Hernandez and got through the eighth inning in just 12 pitches, but Fernando Rodney ran into trouble in the ninth.

Encarnacion led off the frame with a double to the wall in right and two batters later, Chris Colabello smacked a homer out to left to cut Toronto's deficit to 4-3.

"It's not about personal stuff, it's about winning baseball games," said Colabello.

Morrison picked up his closer with a diving tag on Kevin Pillar at first base for the second out, and Josh Donaldson popped out to center.

Rodney recorded his 11th save.

Game Notes

Hernandez improved to 6-6 in his career against the Blue Jays ... Earlier, the Blue Jays placed infielder Devon Travis on the 15-day disabled list and recalled infielder Munenori Kawasaki from Triple-A Buffalo ... Colabello had three of Toronto's seven hits.






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