Happ gets 20th win, Blue Jays take over 1st AL wild-card spot

SEATTLE – J.A. Happ had a long wait between innings, and it was totally worth it for him and the Toronto Blue Jays.

Happ became the major leagues’ second 20-game winner and Russell Martin and Michael Saunders each hit a two-run homer, lifting Toronto over the Seattle Mariners 10-2 on Tuesday night to move into first in the AL wild-card race.

Toronto moved a game ahead of Baltimore and remained 2 1/2 games ahead of Detroit. Seattle lost for the fourth time in five games and trails Toronto by four games.

Happ was the patient beneficiary when the Jays took the lead with an eight-run fourth inning.

“I actually came back up in the tunnel here and threw a little bit with Josh Thole trying to keep my arm loose,” Happ said. “But, when we’re scoring eight an inning, or six an inning, not sure which one it was, but I’ll definitely take that any day.”

Happ (20-4) allowed two runs, six hits and a walk over five innings, striking out eight while winning for the 14th time in his last 15 decisions. He’s the first Toronto pitcher to reach 20 wins since Roy Halladay in 2008.

“Twenty wins. It’s hard to do at the big league level, the best baseball in the world,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “He’s had some kind of season. He’s going to keep going strong, but it’s quite an accomplishment.”

Martin and Saunders each homered off Hisashi Iwakuma (16-12) during the Blue Jays’ big inning. After catcher Chris Iannetta misplayed Jose Bautista’s pop foul for an error, Bautista singled with one out and Martin followed with his 20th home run. Troy Tulowitzki singled and Saunders followed with his 24th homer to put Toronto up 4-2.

Kevin Pillar doubled and Ezequiel Carrera chased Iwakuma with an RBI single. Devon Travis greeted reliever Nick Vincent with a bloop single down the right-field line, scoring Carrera from first to make it 6-2. Josh Donaldson walked and Edwin Encarnacion capped the inning with a two-run double.

Donaldson opened the sixth with his 35th homer and Encarnacion added an eighth-inning solo homer, his 42nd, for the final two runs.

“We scratched out a couple runs, get a big hit and finally get a lead, started getting some momentum our way,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “Unfortunately, the shutdown inning was nonexistent. It got away from us there, some bad pitches, they hit some home runs and got some other hits to fall in for them. They were around the ball all night. We couldn’t get them off it.”

Martin and Saunders became the first Canadian-born teammates in major league history to hit at least 20 home runs in the same season.

“I think Russ and I will tell you that we’re probably more proud than others,” Saunders said. “I don’t think it means a lot to anybody else. But Russ lately has just been on fire, really turned his season around. We’ve leaned on him for the second half of the season.”

The Mariners took a 2-0 lead in the third when Robinson Cano lined a two-run triple off the knee of second baseman Travis that caromed all the way into the right-field corner.

“That one inning, they put a couple on the board, some tough plays,” Gibbons said. “But what he (Happ) did, he held them in check, limited it to two and then our offence took over, which was good to see. We haven’t seen one of those in a while. The first two games here, we played really, really well.”

EXCLUSIVE COMPANY FOR HAPP

Happ became the sixth Blue Jay with 20 wins, joining Halladay, Roger Clemens, Jack Morris, Pat Hentgen and David Wells. The total ties him with Wells in 2000 for the most victories by a Toronto left-hander.

TRAINING ROOM

Mariners: RHP Taijuan Walker had no issues after taking a line drive off his pitching arm in the first inning on Monday night. “He feels fine. There’s nothing there,” manager Scott Servais said.

MARINERS AFFILIATE MOVES

Seattle will have two new minor league affiliates in 2017. The Mariners announced a two-year agreement with the Arkansas Travelers in the Double-A Texas League and a four-year deal with the Modesto Nuts in the Class A California League. Arkansas replaces Jackson, which won the Southern League title. Modesto replaces Bakersfield, which was contracted from the California League.

UP NEXT

Blue Jays: RHP Aaron Sanchez (13-2, 3.17 ERA) gets the start in the afternoon series finale at Safeco Field. Sanchez is 2-1 with a 4.65 ERA and four no decisions in his last seven starts. He lasted just 3 2/3 innings in his last start, giving up six runs on five hits.

Mariners: RHP Felix Hernandez (11-6, 3.79) allowed six runs — five earned — and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings in his last start, a 6-0 loss vs. Houston. He is 7-2 in 12 starts since coming off the DL (right calf strain) on July 20.

Robinson Cano: No More Home Run Derby For Me

It is hard to watch a former champion struggle at his craft. For Robinson Cano fans, watching the 2011 Home Run Derby champion fade away in the first round of this year's competition was frustrating. Cano, the No. 4 seed, was blasted 24-7 in his head-to-head matchup with eventual champion Giancarlo Stanton.

When Cano won in 2011, the Home Run Derby featured a three-round, ten outs-per-round format. Cano's 2016 campaign was his fourth Derby appearance (2011-2013, 2016), but first in the new timed format. Cano, known for his nonchalance, had the lowest total of any player in any round in the two years of the new rules.

"It is more difficult," he says. "You got a time now. You got to swing. You've got to hit the most you can because you know the guy behind you, the guy in front of you, are going to get the same amount of minutes."

Cano is 33 and still among the best players in the game. His .304 average, 22 home runs, 23 doubles and 66 runs all rank in the top 11 in the American League.

But his Home Run Derby prime may be exhausted. And Cano wants to put that side of his career to bed.

"No, I'm not going back again," Cano says when asked about how he will improve for future years. "I just [did] this year because of my son. I'm not doing it again."

Cano's son, also named Robinson, lives in the Dominican Republic, but he was in the United States for this year's All-Star Game, accompanying Robinson and Robinson's father, Jose, a former MLB player known for his pitching to Cano and other players in the Home Run Derby.

"That's one of the reasons I want to do it, too," Cano told The Seattle Times on July 7. "It will be my dad, myself and my son. So us three there is something that’s going to be pretty special."

During that interview, the Mariner also said of the Home Run Derby, "I want to go back." A few weeks later, his opinion has reversed.

Cano spoke to ThePostGame at the Roc Nation Summer Classic Charity Basketball Tournament. His RC22 Foundation was a beneficiary of the event, along with CC Sabathia's PitCCh In Foundation, Miguel Cotto's Fundacion El Angel and Nick Jonas' Beyond Type 1.

Robinson Cano homers twice as Seattle Mariners down Kansas City Royals, 11-2

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Robinson Cano wasn't focused on the distance. He was just happy to see the ball clear the fence.

Cano homered twice and drove in four runs and Hisashi Iwakuma struck out a season-high 10 as the Seattle Mariners romped past the slumping Kansas City Royals, 11-2 Tuesday night.

The Mariners muscled out five home runs, with Cano's 433-foot three-run shot in the seven-run third his longest in more than two years.

"I knew it was a good swing but I didn't think it was going to be that far," Cano said. "But for me it doesn't matter how far it goes if it goes over the wall."

Kauffman Stadium is not a friendly park for power hitters, but it was not too big for the Mariners.

"It doesn't usually play this small," Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said. " I thought the ball jumped, really jumped in early BP tonight and I think it carried over into the game."

The AL Central-leading Royals have dropped 12 of 17. Their magic number for clinching the division remained three.

Cano and Kyle Seager each hit solo homers in the first inning for Seattle, which has the league's best record in September at 13-6 but is still three games under .500 (74-77). It was Seager's 25th home run and his seventh in 23 games.

Brad Miller and Jesus Montero also connected for Seattle.

Cano hit a three-run shot in a seven-run third inning for his 15th career multihomer game. Cano's next hit will be the 2,000th of his career.

Iwakuma (9-4), who is 7-2 in his past nine starts, curbed the Royals on three singles over seven scoreless innings. He has allowed one run and 10 hits in 13 innings in his past two starts, while striking out 19 and walking one.

Royals starter Jeremy Guthrie (8-8) was pulled after Miller homered with one out in the third. Guthrie retired only seven of the 17 batters he faced, allowing nine runs on nine hits, four home runs.

"When he missed location, they didn't miss it," Royals manager Ned Yost said.

Guthrie is 1-3 with an 8.07 ERA in seven starts since the All-Star break, allowing 58 hits, including 12 home runs, and walking 11 in 35 2-3 innings.

Yost said he would "sleep on it" when asked if Guthrie would make another start.

Montero hit a two-run shot in the fourth off rookie right-hander Miguel Almonte for the final Seattle runs.

Alcides Escobar had three of the Royals' hits, scored a run and drove in a run. Alex Rios doubled in the ninth to extend his hitting streak to 11 games.

Robinson Cano becomes first 2B to reach 2,000 hits in 11 seasons

Seattle Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano became the first second baseman in MLB history to reach 2,000 hits in 11 seasons, according to MLB Stat of the Day.

Cano knocked hit No. 2,000 Wednesday night against the Kansas City Royals on an eighth inning single.

Cano has recorded at least 155 hits in each of his 11 seasons in the majors. His most productive season came in 2009, when he recorded 204 hits and hit .320 for the New York Yankees.

In December of 2013, Cano signed a 10-year, $240 million contract with the Mariners. Cano is hitting .282 this season, which would be his worst average since 2008.

• Derek Jeter, Joe Torre, former Yankees remember Yogi Berra

In his career, Cano has a .307 average with 237 home runs and 977 RBIs.