Max Scherzer struck out a season-best 10 over seven one-hit innings Sunday afternoon and the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the visiting Seattle Mariners 7-0 to complete a three-game sweep.
With his final strikeout, No. 3,535, the 42-year-old right-hander passed Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry for ninth place on the all-time strikeout list.
Scherzer (2-7) allowed one walk to help the Blue Jays complete a 4-2 homestand. The sagging Mariners struck out 15 times, had one hit and continued to play sloppy defense.
Alejandro Kirk was 2-for-4 with a two-run home run and Kazuma Okamoto added a solo shot, helping Toronto win the season series 4-2.
Toronto took a 2-0 lead against starter Logan Gilbert (11-8) in the first. Brett Bateman walked, stole second and scored when Kirk homered to left-center on an 0-2 sweeper.
The Mariners had only a walk against Scherzer before Cal Raleigh doubled high off the right field wall with two outs in the fourth.
Toronto added a run in the fifth when J.P. Crawford let Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s grounder roll under his glove for a hit. The hit scored Myles Straw, who had singled and advanced to second on Bateman’s sacrifice. Guerrero reached second on the throw and was given credit for a double.
Gilbert gave up three runs, six hits and one walk with four strikeouts in five innings.
Gabe Speier replaced Gilbert in the sixth and allowed Okamoto’s team-leading 28th homer on a first-pitch slider with one out. The ball just eluded the glove of leaping center fielder Julio Rodriguez.
Scherzer struck out Raleigh for the second out of the seventh to pass Perry. The three-time Cy Young Award winner retired the final 10 batters he faced before Spencer Miles came on to pitch the eighth and worked around a walk with three strikeouts.
Mariners right-hander Nick Davila, recalled from Triple-A Tacoma, pitched the eighth, allowing three runs on three hits and two walks.
Andres Gimenez’s bases-loaded single scored George Springer, who doubled, and Nathan Lukes, who was hit by a pitch. Bateman sliced an RBI double to left to score Okamoto, who walked.
–Field Level Media
