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Cairo squeezes Mariners past Blue Jays

Jun 10, 2008 - 5:24 AM TORONTO (Ticker) -- The Seattle Mariners shook things up on Monday.

Miguel Cairo snapped a 10th-inning tie with a perfectly executed squeeze play as the struggling Mariners posted a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Jose Vidro hit a two-run homer in the first inning for the Mariners, who posted their second win in six games just hours after firing hitting coach Jeff Pentland.

The 61-year-old Pentland was replaced by Lee Elia, the team's hitting coach from 1993-97, when Seattle won two American League West Division titles behind a slugging lineup.

According to manager John McLaren, the change was part of his team's attempt to forget the disappointing first two months of the season.

"That's what we want to do - we want to come out and play the game the way it's supposed to be played every night and have a good time doing it," he said. "We more or less said (Monday), 'Let's put everything behind us and play the next 99 or whatever and go for it.'"

However, the Mariners needed to play small ball to get their offense going in this one.

With the game tied at 2-2 in the 10th, Jason Frasor (1-1) walked leadoff hitter Raul Ibanez. Pinch runner Willie Bloomquist stole second as Adrian Beltre struck out, and Jose Lopez was walked intentionally before Wladimir Balentien also drew a base on balls, loading the bases for Cairo.

The former Blue Jay dropped a bunt in front of the plate and Bloomquist raced home from third to score the go-ahead run.

"(If) you want to win a game, you have to be ready to do your job," Cairo said. "You have to be ready to play defense and do whatever they ask you to do, and that's everything about the game - being prepared to do your job."

Lyle Overbay and Vernon Wells each drove in a run for Toronto, which loaded the bases with none out in the bottom of the 10th against Seattle closer J.J. Putz. But Overbay grounded into a 3-2-3 double play and David Eckstein flied out to end the game.

"It's frustrating. We're here to drive in runs and there are no excuses," Overbay said. "We're just not getting it done, and me personally, that's about the worst thing you can do, grounding into that double play."

"We had some opportunities tonight and we just didn't execute in the situations," Eckstein said. "A lot of these games are won and lost on little things, and tonight we just didn't get the job done."

Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (1-1) worked two scoreless innings to pick up the win, allowing just one hit while striking out two and walking one.

Mariners starter Jarrod Washburn also pitched well, yielding just one run and five hits. He struck out four and walked three for Seattle, which used three relievers to bridge the gap to Dickey and Putz, who recorded his seventh save.

Trailing, 2-0, in the fourth, Toronto got on the scoreboard when Overbay roped a double into the right field corner to score Kevin Mench all the way from first base.

The Blue Jays tied the game in the seventh on an infield single by Wells, who hit a one-hop screamer that was nicely picked by shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt, whose high throw pulled first baseman Richie Sexson off the bag.

Sexson, who leaped to catch the ball, missed a sweeping tag as Wells ran by, allowing Eckstein to score from third.

Jesse Litsch surrendered two runs and 10 hits while striking out four and walking one for Toronto, which stranded 13 baserunners.

"That's been a tough spot for us all year, it really has - especially in some of the extra-inning ballgames we've played," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said of his team's performance in the clutch. "It's not for a lack of effort. It's just not happening."