Logan Gilbert pitched 7 1/3 innings of one-hit ball and Randy Arozarena belted a grand slam as the Seattle Mariners routed the visiting Toronto Blue Jays 11-0 on Saturday afternoon.
Cal Raleigh hit a three-run homer and Dominic Canzone added a two-run shot as the Mariners won for the fourth time in their past five games and moved past Texas and into first place in the American League West.
Mariners manager Dan Wilson announced before the game the team was scrapping the scheduled piggyback with Gilbert (7-5) and Emerson Hancock for the day and the right-hander took advantage.
Gilbert retired the first 14 Blue Jays batters in order before Yohendrick Pinango blooped a single into shallow left field with two outs in the fifth inning, the ball falling between outfielders Victor Robles and Arozarena.
Gilbert retired the final eight batters he faced before exiting after 91 pitches. Gilbert didn’t walk a batter and struck out seven.
The Mariners opened the scoring in the second inning with a five-run rally after the first two batters were retired by Blue Jays starter Shane Bieber (0-1). Cole Young lined a double into right-center and Victor Robles singled to left, scoring Young. Colt
Emerson grounded a single to center, sending Robles to third, and J.P. Crawford walked to load the bases. Arozarena lined an 0-1 slider over the wall in left.
Seattle added to its advantage in the fifth as Arozarena drew a leadoff walk and Canzone followed with a homer to right to make it 7-0.
That was it for Bieber, who allowed seven runs on six hits in four-plus innings. The right-hander walked three and fanned three.
With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Emerson bunted for a single and, an out later, Arozarena reached on an infield single, with third baseman Kazuma Okamoto’s errant throw allowing Emerson to take third. Canzone grounded an RBI-scoring single to right and Raleigh followed with a towering blast off the facade of the second deck in right off Tommy Nance to cap the scoring.
