TORONTO

McDonald, Davis play heroes as Jays beat Mariners

The Canadian Press Published Wednesday, July 20, 2011 7:16AM EDT

Toronto Blue Jays John McDonald (right) is congratulated by teammates Travis Snider (left), Aaron Hill (centre) and Mike McCoy after his game winning sac-fly in 14th inning AL action against the Seattle Mariners in Toronto on Tuesday July 19, 2011. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

Text:

TORONTO - John McDonald hit a sacrifice fly with one out in the bottom of the 14th inning, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat Seattle 6-5 Tuesday to send the Mariners to their 10th loss in a row.

McDonald drove in Rajai Davis, who singled against right-hander Jamey Wright (2-3), then stole second and third to set up the winning play and help the Blue Jays end a two-game skid.

Casey Janssen (3-0) pitched the top of the 14th after coming off the disabled list before the game to pick up the win.

Rookie Michael Pineda, who earned his first major-league victory against the Blue Jays in Seattle on April 12, couldn't hold a 5-2 lead as Toronto tied the game with three runs in the seventh. Jose Bautista, who returned as designated hitter after missing three games with an ankle injury, singled in the tying run.

Pineda allowed seven hits, including Adam Lind's two-run homer in the first, and five runs in 6 1/3 innings.

Toronto left-hander Brett Cecil allowed five runs and nine hits, including home runs by Greg Halman and Brendan Ryan, in seven innings.

Seattle scored a first-inning run when Ryan doubled and Dustin Ackley singled.

Lind's 17th homer of the season into the second deck in right field gave Toronto (48-49) a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first. Lind's homer scored Yunel Escobar who led off with a single, extending his consecutive game streak of reaching base to a career-best 23.

Cecil let that lead slip away in the second as the Mariners (43-53) had a three-run homer from Halman and a solo shot from Ryan.

The Mariners had not homered in nine games going back to July 5, scoring a total of 11 runs over that span. It was the first time they hit more than one homer in a game since June 28. In the 15 games between then and Tuesday they had hit three homers and scored 29 runs.

Manager John Farrell was seen talking to Cecil in the dugout before the bottom of the second.

There was no more scoring until the Blue Jays ended Pineda's start in the seventh. Aaron Hill led off with a double and Corey Patterson walked with one out. Escobar's third hit of the night, a double, scored Hill.

Left-hander Aaron Laffey replaced Pineda and retired Eric Thames on a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 5-4. Bautista came through with the game-tying single against right-hander Jeff Gray.

The Blue Jays had a chance in the ninth after Davis stole second and continued to third on catcher Miguel Olivo's throwing error, but Thames grounded out to send the game to extra innings.

Notes: Attendance at Rogers Centre was 15,957. .....Former Blue Jays second baseman Roberto Alomar will have his No. 12 retired in a ceremony at Rogers Centre on July 31, one week after he is inducted into the baseball hall of fame. ....Right-handed reliever Casey Janssen was reinstated from the 15-day disabled list before the game and left-hander Luis Perez was returned to triple-A Las Vegas. Janssen was put on the DL with a strained right forearm on June 17. ...Brandon Morrow (6-4, 4.37 earned-run average) will start for Toronto on Wednesday against left-hander Jason Vargas (6-7, 3.68 ERA). ...Travis Snider started in centre field for the first time this season and played well. He had played there twice before this season late in games for a total of five innings.