SEATTLE – All they can do now is salvage.
The Mariners, so stout for so long, find themselves in unfamiliar territory entering Sunday’s series finale against the Toronto Blue Jays. The only objective now is simply trying to avoid a sweep.
The Blue Jays rallied from a three-run deficit and pulled away for a 6-3 victory Saturday night before a crowd of 31,182 at T-Mobile Park, snapping the Mariners’ streak of nine consecutive series wins.
The three-run lead is the largest the Mariners (22-16) have given up in a loss this season.
They will turn to Bryce Miller on Sunday in hopes of taking something away from this series, before the New York Yankees come to town Monday.
Rowdy Tellez gave the Mariners a 1-0 lead in the second inning with an opposite-field homer off Bowden Francis, the pitcher the Blue Jays acquired when they traded Tellez to Milwaukee in 2021. (Tellez also homered off Francis on April 18 in Toronto.)
In the fourth inning, Randy Arozarena hit a 104-mph double down the left-field line to drive in Julio Rodriguez to make it 2-0.
Cal Raleigh make it 3-0 when he scored on a sacrifice fly from new teammate Leody Taveras, who hit a medium-range fly ball to right field. The throw from Toronto’s Nathan Lukes was on target, but Raleigh made a crafty head-first slide to avoid the attempted tag from catcher Alejandro Kirk.
M’s rookie Logan Evans, making his third big-league start, pitched well into the fifth inning.
After a leadoff walk to Ernie Clement, Evans got two outs before leaving a fastball over the middle of the plate to Bo Bichette, who hit it out to right field to pull the Blue Jays within 3-2.
Bichette’s blast sailed just over the glove of a leaping Taveras, hitting the top of the wall and bouncing over.
Evans came back out for the sixth inning and surrendered an unlucky single – 78.1 mph off George Springer’s bat, which broke in the process – and manager Dan Wilson came out to get Evans after that.
Kirk followed with the third of his four singles on the night, this a soft groundball to right field off Gabe Speier.
Springer scored from third on a groundout to tie the score at 3.
Mariners reliever Matt Brash, in his first appearance at T-Mobile Park since Sept. 30, 2023, worked around a two-out walk to Vlad Guerrero Jr. and struck out Daulton Varsho to end a scoreless seventh inning.
Carlos Vargas, however, couldn’t make it out of the eighth inning.
A revelation out of the Mariners’ bullpen early this season, Vargas didn’t have his usual sharpness and was tagged for three runs (all earned) on three hits and two walks in two-thirds of an inning.
Vargas walked Springer, the leadoff hitter – a dangerous start to any inning, always.
Springer stole second and scored the go-ahead run on an Addison Barger single to right field.
Myles Straw drove in the final two runs with a solid single to right field later in the inning, extending the Blue Jays’ lead to 6-3.
The Mariners struggled to get to Francis after the fourth inning, and he wound up pitching 6.2 innings, scattered six hits with one walk and five strikeouts.