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Washburn strong, Mariners halt skid

Jul 27, 2008 - 10:05 PM TORONTO (Ticker) -- In possibly his last start as a member of the Seattle Mariners, Jarrod Washburn showed why contending teams have interest in acquiring him.

Washburn pitched eight outstanding innings and Jose Vidro belted a two-run homer as the Mariners snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 5-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday.

The veteran southpaw has been the subject of numerous trade rumors over the past week, most of which have him becoming a member of the New York Yankees.

"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't on my mind before the game and leading up," Washburn said. "I don't know if anything is going to happen but it's been on my mind. It was nice to get out there and be able to forget about it for a while."

Washburn (5-9) did well to help his trade value, allowing just one run and four hits, striking out two. It was the lefthander's first victory since July 2, although Washburn has allowed two earned runs or less in eight of his last nine starts.

"Mechanically, I'm very sound right now," Washburn said. "I'm consistent with every pitch and that's allowed me to get better with my offspeed pitches. My changeup right now is by far the best I've ever had."

Seattle trailed, 1-0, in the top of the sixth but took control of the game with a four-run inning.

Ichiro Suzuki walked and Vidro followed with a two-run homer to right-center field to give the Mariners a 2-1 advantage. Later in the frame with two men on base, Kenji Johjima lined a two-run double into the gap in right-center, extending Seattle's lead to 4-1.

"I had a pretty good pitch to hit," Vidro said. "When you're struggling, you try to shorten your swing a little bit more and that worked out good for me. Got a fastball in, I think that was the only pitch I got inside all day."

Jose Lopez had an RBI single in the seventh to cap the scoring.

John McDonald blasted his first homer of the season for Toronto, which had its five-game winning streak snapped.

"Hitting a home run is probably the last thing that's going to run through my mind," said McDonald, whose last home run was on May 30, 2007.

Blue Jays starter Shaun Marcum (5-5) surrendered four runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings and remains winless since May 26.

"Wasn't locating my fastball today," Marcum said. "It's tough to pitch when you can't throw that over for a strike. (The hitters) can sit on everything else."