Ken Griffey Jr. hit a walk-off single as the Seattle Mariners scored three runs in the ninth inning and snapped a five-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday afternoon.
The Mariners had lost five one-run games in the past week, but broke through against Toronto closer Kevin Gregg (0-1) to earn a split of the two-game series.
Gregg allowed singles to Mike Sweeney and Jose Lopez and then walked Milton Bradley and Casey Kotchman to cut the lead to 3-2. Josh Bard, who had two hits, lifted a sacrifice fly to score Lopez with the tying run before Griffey ended things with a single to right.
Toronto’s Jose Bautista hit his American League-best 12th homer of the season in the fifth off Mariners starter Jason Vargas to give the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead. The homer was the 66th of the season for Toronto, which ranks tops in the majors.
Vargas pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on five hits with two walks and two strikeouts in the no-decision, while Shawn Kelley (2-0) got the win with a perfect ninth.
Toronto starter Ricky Romero surrendered one run on four hits in 6 2/3 innings, striking out five and walking three.
Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu was ejected for the first time when he argued Ichiro Suzuki being thrown out trying to steal second in the eighth.
Toronto | Seattle | |
Ricky Romero | Player | Jason Vargas |
No Decision | W/L | No Decision |
6.2 | IP | 6.2 |
5 | Strikeouts | 2 |
4 | Hits | 5 |
1.35 | ERA | 4.05 |
Toronto | Seattle | |
Alex Gonzalez | Player | Josh Bard |
2 | Hits | 2 |
0 | RBI | 1 |
0 | HR | 0 |
3 | TB | 3 |
.500 | Avg | 1.000 |