Mariners 4, Blue Jays 0: Felix Hernandez tossed eight shutout innings to ruin Ricky Romero's return to the Toronto lineup as visiting Seattle cruised.

Hernandez (4-2) limited the Blue Jays to five hits while striking out seven in his third straight victory. The former Cy Young Award winner has surrendered just two earned runs over 30 innings in his last four starts, lowering his ERA to 1.60.

Romero (0-1) opened strong but faltered late in his first start since being summoned from extended spring training. The veteran left-hander was charged with three runs on three hits over four innings, walking three and striking out four.

Romero breezed in the early going - facing the minimum over the first three innings - but unraveled in the fourth, as Michael Saunders drew a leadoff walk and Kyle Seager followed with a shot to the second deck in right field. He then loaded the bases on a hit batter and two walks before surrendering a Dustin Ackley run-scoring single.

Jason Bay increased the lead in the sixth with a one-out solo shot to right, the Canadian's fifth home run in 16 career games at Rogers Centre.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Romero, who tied for the major-league lead with 105 walks in 2012, took a comebacker off his left forearm in the fourth but X-rays were negative. ... Toronto didn't advance a runner to third base until the eighth inning, when Adam Lind led off with a double and advanced on a Colby Rasmus single. However, Hernandez got a Maicer Izturis double play and a Munenori Kawasaki groundout to end the threat. ... The Blue Jays were shut out for the third time in 2013 and have just two runs in their past three games.