Blue Jays Out Slug Mariners

The Blue Jays take game two against Seattle as the offense comes through with a 13-7 victory. It certainly was not a night for the pitchers as this game could have been played across the street at Qwest Field where the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL call home.

Toronto jumped all over Vargas in the first inning cashing in six runs, including a three-run double by Colby Rasmus and a two-run home run by Aaron Hill to put the Jays up 6-0 before the Mariners stepped into the batter’s box.

Brad Mills had a rough start in his last outing, but walked away with a 1-2-3 first inning on a pair of strikeouts. But, that all started to fall apart in the second. He gave up a lead-off walk and followed that up with back-to-back home runs from Casper Wells and Miguel Olivo and cut the lead in half. After facing seven batters in the second, he followed up in the third with another eight batters and three more runs to tie the game 6-6. This would spell the end of the night for Mills. He had trouble locating his pitches and left a lot of them up. For someone who does not throw very hard, location of pitches is crucial for him to be successful in the majors.

The Blue Jays bounced back in the fifth and sixth combining for seven runs, including Jose Bautista’s league-leading 35^th home run in the sixth. Toronto showed a lot of patience at the plate generating seven walks, three from Bautista. He looked much better last night laying off some tough pitches that he has chased over the last few games.

Hill had probably his best game offensively this season, going 2-for-4 with a home run and 4 RBI. Barry Davis of Rogers Sportsnet pointed out on Twitter that Hill’s 4 RBI-night, equals the same amount he had in the last 15 games.

Brett Lawrie continues to impress with his first career three hit game. They were not the prettiest, but they all look the same in today’s paper. He also came through with some more beautiful defensive plays. Some are making the comparisons to Evan Longoria. I say, let’s wait for at least a full season before we do that. But make no mistake; Lawrie is going to be a great player for years to come.

Luis Perez came out of the bullpen in the fourth and shut the door. He threw strikes and only allowed one run in four innings of relief. If this was the final start for Mills (as he could be on the way back to AAA), Perez showed last night that he could possibly fill the void in the fifth spot until the rosters expand in September.

Notables:
TOR
J. Bautista: 2-for-2; HR, 3 BB, 3 R, 2 RBI
C. Rasmus: 1-for-4; 2B, 4 RBI
B. Lawrie: 3-for-4; 3 singles, 2 R, RBI

SEA
M. Olivo: 1-for-2; HR, BB
C. Wells: 1-for-5; HR, 2 RBI
K. Seager: 2-for-3; 2B, BB, HBP, 2 RBI

Pitching lines:
B. Mills: 3 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO, 2 HR, 70 pitches
J. Vargas (L, 7-11): 4 IP, 7 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 4 BB, 2 SO, 1 HR, 94 pitches
L. Perez (W, 2-2): 4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO, 61 pitches

The Blue Jays look to take the rubber match tonight against the Mariners. Brandon Morrow (8-7, 4.55) will take the hill against his former team, while the Mariners send rookie Blake Beavan (3-3, 3.59) to face the Blue Jays.

Until next time,

Let’s Go Blue Jays!

Twitter: @ChaseHadden