SEATTLE _ After scoring three or fewer runs in 18 of their past 23 games _ including six straight _ the Mariners were desperate to rediscover some offense Sunday afternoon as they sought to avoid a four-game sweep by the Toronto Blue Jays in their own park.
Thanks primarily to Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager's embrace of the long ball, they were able to take a step in the right direction.
The pair combined for three homers and drove in all of the Mariners' runs on the way to the club's 6-3 victory over Toronto, helping Seattle avoid the sweep and breaking a five-game losing streak. With the A's also winning, the Mariners remained 2 { games in back of Oakland for the second wild-card spot.
Cruz and Seager hit back-to-back home runs (Cruz's two-run blast and Seager's solo shot) in the bottom of the seventh turned a 3-3 tie into a 6-3 ballgame, putting the Mariners ahead for good. Alex Colome and Edwin Diaz pitched the final two innings to preserve the M's lead, with the latter picking up his 41st save of the season.
Before that crucial seventh inning, Cuz and Seager were responsible for the three runs that gave the Mariners a 3-1 lead going into the top of the seventh. In the bottom of the third, Cruz's two-out single with the bases loaded went off the glove of Aledmys Diaz, scoring Andrew Romine and Denard Span. It was the first lead the Mariners had earned since the first inning of Thursday's series opener, when Cruz put the team ahead with a two-run homer.
Seager's solo home run to right field in the bottom of the sixth put Seattle ahead by two and gave the Mariners slightly more breathing room, but it wouldn't last for long. Aledmys Diaz tied things up with a two-run homer to right field in the top of the seventh, with a very Toronto-friendly crowd erupting in cheers.
Aledmys Diaz also accounted for Toronto's first run of the game. Luke Maile's RBI single plated the shortstop, who had doubled in the previous at-bat.
Mike Leake's day wasn't completely seamless but he churned out five scoreless innings. He ended the day with 6 2/3 innings pitched, nine hits, three runs, five strikeouts and one homer.
