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Blue Jays hit three homers to edge Mariners

Sep 1, 2007 - 3:55 AM TORONTO (Ticker) -- Troy Glaus, Lyle Overbay and Alex Rios all homered as the Toronto Blue Jays extended the Seattle Mariners' losing streak to a season-tying seven games with a 7-5 triumph on Friday.

Despite its downward spiral, Seattle (73-60) remained one game behind the New York Yankees (75-60) in the American League wild card chase. New York lost to Tampa Bay on Friday.

In the bottom of the third inning, Glaus' 18th homer - a two-run shot - snapped a 2-2 tie. One out later, Overbay launched his 10th blast off Seattle starter Jarrod Washburn (9-12).

"We were able to take advantage of some situations and get ahead," Glaus said. "(Washburn) tends to be pretty aggressive with his stuff. He comes right at you, and we could be aggressive, also."

Rios launched his 22nd home run to left-center field to make it 6-2 in the fourth. Following the shot, Washburn's evening came to an end after issuing consecutive walks to Frank Thomas and Glaus.

Blue Jays starter Shaun Marcum (12-5) continued to impress, battling through five innings for his seventh win in his last eight outings. The righthander allowed four runs and seven runs with three strikeouts.

"I wasn't pitching that great, but it could have been a lot worse," Marcum said. "It was a battle and a grind, but the offense came through and we were able to get a big win."

In the eighth, Kenji Johjima's RBI double sliced Seattle's deficit to 6-5. But Thomas answered in the bottom half when his base hit plated Rios, who singled and stole second, for a two-run cushion.

"We just can't seem to get a ball to bounce our way. It's frustrating" said Seattle closer J.J. Putz, who gave up the RBI single by Thomas. "It's been like a week since I've pitched and I definitely did not feel sharp. It's tough when you're used to being in there on a regular basis."

Three Blue Jays relievers bridged the gap to closer Jeremy Accardo, who picked up his 26th save despite loading the bases in the ninth.

"A win's a win, whether it's by one run or three runs," said Accardo, who has successfully converted nine straight opportunities. "My approach is to stay away and don't get beat with the long ball. You've just got to keep the ball on the ground in those situations."

John McDonald's two-run triple in the second helped Toronto grab a 2-1 lead.

The 34-year-old Washburn was hammered for six runs and seven hits in 3 1/2 innings. He has lost five of his last six decisions and fell to 2-7 lifetime against Toronto.

"Nothing was working. I had no clue where the ball was going," said Washburn, who has allowed eight home runs in his last five starts. "That was about as bad as I can be right there. I was brutal - I let the team down."

"We had to go to our bullpen early again, and that's not a good scenario," Seattle manager John McLaren said. "Washburn just couldn't locate the ball, and that made it pretty hard. We're just going through some tough times right now. We need to turn it around soon."

Adrian Beltre and Jose Vidro both homered for the Mariners, who also dropped seven straight games from July 21-26.