Blue Jays 6, Mariners 5

SEATTLE (AP) — The Toronto Blue Jays found a way to win without Roy Halladay.

They don't want to have to make a habit of it.

The AL Cy Young Award winner missed his scheduled start because of a sore right shoulder Tuesday night, but the Blue Jays got a two-run homer from Vernon Wells in the sixth inning to help beat the Seattle Mariners 6-5.

Halladay was scratched after playing catch before the game and was examined at the ballpark.

”The doctor said he's got something going on in there and we need take a further look at it,” manager Carlos Tosca said. ”I don't want to speculate on anything, I don't want to jump the gun on anything.”

The Blue Jays will get a second opinion from another physician.

”Someone else will look at him,” Tosca said. ”We haven't determined as to where yet. We're going to give it a couple of days to quiet down.”

Halladay, who pitched an AL-leading 266 innings and made a career-most 36 starts last season when he led the majors with 22 victories. After the game, he was not in the clubhouse and his packed-up bag sat in his locker.

The Blue Jays open a series at Oakland on Thursday night.

”With Doc … you feel he can go nine every night,” said Jason Kershner, who came out of the bullpen to start in place of Halladay. ”Obviously, he's got to be hurting not to make his start.”

Carlos Delgado, Toronto's star first baseman who has been sidelined by a ribcage injury for three straight games, didn't like hearing the news about Halladay.

”He's our ace and we're going to have to find out what's wrong with him,” Delgado said. ”When you have a guy going out there every fifth day for eight or nine innings, sometimes you take him for granted. I sure do appreciate him.”

Raul Ibanez gave the Mariners a 5-4 lead in the fifth with his 11th homer of the season, off Aquilino Lopez.

But Lopez (1-1) got the victory with 2 1-3 innings of relief when Wells hit his seventh homer of the season off rookie Clint Nageotte (0-1), making his major league debut in relief of Gil Meche. The homer followed a single by Reed Johnson and gave Wells three RBIs for the night.

In the fourth, Nageotte walked Wells and Greg Zaun with the bases loaded for two runs to give Toronto a 4-2 lead.

In the bottom of the inning, Jolbert Cabrera tripled in a run and Pat Borders followed with an RBI single to tie it for the Mariners.

The Blue Jays tied the score at 2 in the second when Meche walked Reed Johnson on a 3-2 pitch to force in Alex Rios with the bases loaded.

The Mariners got a two-run double from Edgar Martinez in the bottom of the first, to take a 2-1 lead after Johnson's RBI single.

Meche, who has a 1-5 record and a 7.06 ERA, was replaced by Nageotte after throwing 73 pitches in two innings. He gave up two runs on three hits and four walks, and struck out four.

”It is frustrating that I have to be the guy going out there doing it, knowing in the back of my mind that I have good enough stuff to get everybody out in this league,” Meche said. ”I'm not the kind of pitcher I've been showing.”

Mariners manager Bob Melvin was asked if he would consider replacing Meche in the rotation.

”I'm not going to come in here five minutes after the game and make a decision on what we are going to do,” he said. ”We'll sleep on it, talk about it a little bit and see where we go.”

Nageotte, called up from Triple-A Tacoma last Friday, gave up four runs on four hits and four walks, with one strikeout in four innings.

Kershner went 3 2-3 innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits in his first major league start.

Rookie Jason Frasor pitched the final 1 1-3 innings for his fourth save in four chances. He got Martinez to fly out with the bases loaded in the eighth. Frasor hasn't allowed a run in his last 17 innings.

Notes: The Blue Jays walked a season-high nine times for the fourth time this season and the second time in three games. … The crowd of 24,848 was the smallest at Safeco Field this season. … Lopez got his second major league win. … Kershner, who last started July 11, 2002, for Portland at Tacoma in a Triple-A Pacific Coast League game, made his first start in his 87th major league appearance. … After receiving four bases-loaded walks in their first 51 games, the Blue Jays had three Tuesday.