SEATTLE 5 TORONTO 3
Eric Thames hasn't been around the Seattle Mariners long enough to hear about Safeco Field, the marine air around it or how playing in this city will suppress a guy's home-run swing.
Instead, he merely stepped into the box for his second Mariners at-bat Wednesday night, uncorked his massive forearms and let the baseball do the talking. That ball traveled an estimated 411 feet over the centre-field wall in towering fashion, sparking Seattle's 5-3 comeback victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.
It was ultimately a John Jaso single in the sixth inning that put Seattle in front to stay. But it was the tying, two-run homer in the fifth inning by Thames, off Toronto starter Carlos Villanueva, that everybody was buzzing about.
The Mariners won for the seventh consecutive time on a night when it looked like they were being overwhelmed by the opposing pitcher.
A crowd of 22,537 - thousands of them once again rooting for the visiting Blue Jays - saw Villanueva cruise through the first four innings, allowing just two singles.
Toronto had taken a 3-1 lead on the strength of solo home runs by Colby Rasmus and Kelly Johnson off Seattle starter Blake Beavan.
Villanueva had entered the night with a 6-0 record and 2.92 earned-run average since being called up from triple-A in June. But the Mariners got to him in the fifth when Casper Wells hit a one-out single - Seattle's third hit of the game - and then Thames stepped up.
