SEATTLE (AP) Josh Phelps thought he hit a sacrifice fly. To his surprise, the ball carried a little farther.
SEATTLE (AP) — Josh Phelps thought he hit a sacrifice fly. To his surprise, the ball carried a little farther.
Blue Jays 5, Mariners 3
Phelps, who had only one hit his previous 14 at-bats, hit his first career grand slam to lead the Toronto Blue Jays over the Seattle Mariners 5-3 Wednesday night.
”It was one of those where I was just fortunate to hit it at the right time of the day,” Phelps said. ”When I first hit the ball I thought, 'Good, at least I'll get one run in.' But the ball just kept carrying out there in right field.”
It was another untimely bad pitch for Joel Pineiro (1-7), who allowed a grand slam to Boston's David Ortiz in his previous start, last Friday.
”I didn't want to go 3-0 on him, so I tried to go away and he just got the good part of the bat on it,” Pineiro said. ”It's been the same things all year. One inning I give up three or four runs and it's all over.”
Blue Jays manager Carlos Tosca, who moved the slumping Phelps down to the eighth spot in the batting order for only the second time this season, was also stunned that Phelps' high fly reached the seats in the second inning.
”It was nice for us to get an extra-base hit with the bases loaded, which we haven't exactly been doing lately,” Tosca said. ”When he first hit it, I didn't think it was going out.”
Ted Lilly (4-2) won his fourth straight decision, allowing two runs and seven hits in 6 1-3 innings. He had been 1-5 with a 6.31 ERA in 11 previous games against Seattle.
”I was trying to get as many outs out of him as I could,” Tosca said. ”We were really thin out there (in the bullpen) tonight. He almost got through seven innings, and we needed that.”
Kerry Ligtenberg pitched the ninth for his second save in three chances, allowing an RBI single to pinch-hitter Dave Hansen.
Raul Ibanez, who leads the Mariners with 11 homers, strained his right hamstring while beating out a bunt single in the second.
”He felt a pop when he was running down the line,” Melvin said. ”I don't know for sure, but it sounds to me like it would be a borderline miracle not to be a 15-day stint.”
Pineiro gave up five runs and seven hits in 7 1-3 innings. He is 0-6 with a 5.20 ERA in eight starts since beating Texas on April 18.
Toronto got its second straight road win after losing six in row away from home. Seattle, which stranded eight runners in the first five innings and 11 overall, has lost five of its last seven.
”We left more guys on out there,” Mariners manager Bob Melvin said. ”They got the big hit with the bases loaded and it ended up being the difference. Tonight we had quite a few more opportunities than they did, but they capitalized on them and we didn't.”
Toronto went ahead on Phelps' fifth homer, which followed singles by Vernon Wells and Gregg Zaun, and a walk to Chris Gomez.
Howie Clark drove made it 5-0 with a squeeze bunt in the fourth that followed Zaun's double and Gomez's groundout.
Dan Wilson hit an RBI single in the bottom half and Rich Aurilia homered in the sixth.
Notes: OF Hiram Bocachica played for Triple-A Tacoma on Wednesday afternoon, then was brought up by the Mariners to replace RHP Gil Meche. On his drive up to Seattle after the Rainers' game, Bocachica missed the exit to Safeco Field and arrived later than planned. He pinch ran in the second for Ibanez … Ichiro Suzuki extended his hitting streak to 10 games. … Wells was 5-for-10 in the series with two homers and three steals. … The Blue Jays won their only series of the season in Seattle 2-1 — their first winning record at the Mariners since 1998.
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