Hot Mariners Santana beat the Blue Jays 2-1 for a seventh straight win

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Mariners Carlos Santana...

SEATTLE (AP) — Carlos Santana provided the jerk to support another great night of pitching, keeping Seattle on a roll the Mariners haven’t seen in almost two decades.

Mariners 2, Blue Jays 1: Box Score

Santana hit his first home run since being taken over by Seattle when he lined a two-run shot against Toronto starter Alek Manoah that led the Mariners to a 2-1 win over the Blue Jays on Saturday night.

Seattle won its seventh straight win and has won 15 of its last 18. The 15-3 run is the Mariners’ best 18-game streak since May 16–June 5, 2003.

“When there’s fans, when it’s loud on every single field, when everyone is hanging out on every single field, it’s fun to play baseball,” said Seattle starter Robbie Ray. “It makes a lot of fun.”

Santana’s homer came in the seventh inning after Seattle managed just one hit from Manoah in the first six. JP Crawford led seventh with a single and Santana ambushed a mid-plate fastball for his fifth home game of the season and his biggest hit yet with the Mariners.

“(Manoah) was great. We needed him to make a mistake and we need to take advantage of him and we did that,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said.

Santana was acquired by Kansas City for a pair of pitchers in late June.

“The energy is great,” Santana said. “We have to keep at it. It’s a long season.”

Ray faced his former team for the first time and pitched six innings, allowing just three hits and a run on George Springer’s 16th home run of the season before the sixth inning. Ray won the AL Cy Young Award with the Blue Jays last season but did not travel to Toronto when the teams met in May due to border restrictions related to the COVID-19 vaccine.

Ray hit six and threw himself out of a big jam in the fifth inning as Toronto loaded bases with no outs and failed to score. In his last six starts, Ray has a .91 ERA with 11 walks and 46 strikeouts.

“Those pitching staff over there, that bullpen and the way they pitch, you gotta give them credit too. They haven’t conceded that many runs in the last 20 games and they’re hot,” said Toronto manager Charlie Montoyo. “They play good baseball and had Robbie Ray on the mound today. We’ve seen that before.”

Matt Brash (2-3) made a pair in a perfect seventh inning, including a nine-foul 13-pitch strikeout by Lordes Gurriel Jr.

Diego Castillo, who lined up for the third day in a row, faced problems on the ninth after Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Alejandro Kirk only played once. Castillo got groundouts from Teoscar Hernández and Matt Chapman for his fifth save.

Manoah (9-4) matched Ray, throwing 7 1/3 innings but taking the loss. Manoah didn’t allow a hit until Ty France’s one-out double in the fourth and allowed three baserunners overall until the problems in the seventh.

Manoah struck seven and walked four.

“It’s a pleasure to manage him. I’m telling you because when you took the mound, he gave you everything he had (and) saved the bullpen for tomorrow,” Montoyo said.

SPRINGER THINGS

Toronto’s entire offense came from Springer’s one shot. It was his 23rd career home run against Seattle. He hit 13 of the 23 at T-Mobile Park.

roster moves

Seattle took a number of measures to bolster its bullpen, recalling Triple-A Tacoma’s Brash and Matt Festa. RHP Ken Giles was placed on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder infection and RHP Erik Swanson was placed on the paternity list.

Seattle also selected rookie starting pitcher George Kirby to Tacoma. With a day off Monday and the All-Star break looming, it’s an easy way for Seattle to manage Kirby’s innings. Right-hander Jacob Barnes was chosen from Tacoma to take Kirby’s place.

Catcher Luis Torrens (shoulder) was also activated by the 10 Day IL and C Andrew Knapp was designated for action.

TRAINING ROOM

Blue Jays: Toronto manager Charlie Montoyo wasn’t ready to name a starter for Sunday’s series finale, but it won’t be RHP Kevin Gausman. Montoyo said Gausman would not return to the rotation until Tuesday at the earliest. Gausman was hit in the ankle on his last start and was scratched from his scheduled lap on Thursday.

NEXT

Blue Jays: Toronto is expected to make it a bullpen day and announce a starter on Sunday.

Mariners: RHP Logan Gilbert (10-3, 2.61) is looking to join Houston’s Justin Verlander as the lone 11-game winner in the American League. Gilbert allowed two runs in 5 1/3 innings in his last start against San Diego. Gilbert has pitched at least five innings at every start this season.

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