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Guillen, Mariners send Hargrove away with victory

Jul 2, 2007 - 12:52 AM SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Jose Guillen made Mike Hargrove's last day as the Seattle Mariners manager a memorable one.

Guillen had a walk-off RBI single and homered to give the Mariners a 2-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays to sweep the three-game series on Sunday.

The win came on the heels of Hargrove's stunning resignation as the Seattle manager earlier in the day.

"It's a good way to go out," Hargrove said. "I won the first game I ever managed and the last game I ever managed so it's a nice pair of bookends."

The announcement certainly came at a strange time for the Mariners, who have now won their last eight contests.

"I'm a competitor and I've always been a competitor so I am going to miss it, you bet," Hargrove said. "But it's still the right decision."

Hargrove, who had a 1,187-1,173 managerial record and took the Cleveland Indians to the World Series twice, remained vague about his reasons for leaving so suddenly.

"I ask every day from my players and my coaches to give me everything they've got, mentally and physically, and I've got to be able to give it in return," Hargrove said. "I've always been willing, but it's just taken more effort to get me to the point that I'm able to do it."

Seattle filled the managerial vacancy immediately, naming bench coach John McLaren as the 12th manager in franchise history.

Guillen sent a 2-2 offering from Blue Jays closer Jeremy Accardo (1-3) into left field for a base hit to plate Adrian Beltre for the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth.

After Beltre walked, he advance to second on Raul Ibanez's single, which set the stage for Guillen's heroics.

Guillen tied the game, 1-1, in the eighth when he blasted a solo home run over the right field wall.

"Everybody took it (Hargrove's decision) real hard today," Guillen said. "When we were behind 1-0 I came up in the dugout and started screaming 'Let's go! Let's go! Let's get this win.' That was a big at-bat to come out and hit the home run and the motivation started coming around to everybody."

J.J. Putz (1-0), named to his first All-Star game earlier in the day along with teammate Ichiro Suzuki, recorded the win after pitching a perfect ninth.

Frank Thomas gave Toronto the lead in the seventh inning with his 501st career home run. It was Thomas' 14th blast of the season.

Mariners starter Jeff Weaver pitched eight innings, giving up just one run and seven hits with two strikeouts. The 30-year-old righthander is 2-0 with a 1.65 ERA since returning from the disabled list on June 9 after starting the season 0-6.

Toronto starter Shaun Marcum pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run and six hits while issuing two walks and striking out a pair.

The Mariners have won a season-high eight straight games and 10 of the last 11. It is Seattle's longest winning streak since it won nine straight from May 27-June 5, 2003.

"They're the hottest team in baseball," Toronto manager John Gibbons said. "They're a great team. They've got good pitching, and at the same time one of the best defensive teams out there, and they're swinging it. We just couldn't counter that."

The Mariners recorded their first three-game sweep at home from the Blue Jays in 27 years.