TORONTO – Felix Hernandez summed up his latest loss in one word: terrible.
Edwin Encarnacion hit his 40th home run, Adam Lind also connected, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Seattle Mariners, 8-3, Thursday night to send Hernandez to his third straight defeat.
“That was terrible right there,” a frustrated Hernandez said.
Hernandez (13-8) allowed a season-high seven runs on 10 hits in four innings, struck out four and walked one. He has a 9.00 ERA in his last three outings, losing three consecutive starts for the first time since Sept. 12-24 last year.
“It looked like his stuff was pretty good,” Seattle manager Eric Wedge said. “He just didn’t have the same location that you normally see.”
Hernandez matched a season-high by giving up 11 hits to Oakland in his last start, and complained afterward that none of his pitches had been working.
“Today, nothing was working, either,” he said after being knocked around by the Blue Jays.
Hernandez is 2-3 since throwing the major leagues’ 23rd perfect game Aug. 15 against Tampa Bay.
“I have to do something,” he said. “The last three starts have been disappointing.”
Encarnacion hit a three-run shot in a five-run fourth inning as the Blue Jays avoided a three-game sweep.
Even Hernandez was impressed after Encarnacion sent a change-up into the second deck in left.
“Oh, man, that was long,” Hernandez said. “That’s a pretty good one right there. It was a good pitch, it was down.”
Encarnacion’s shot gave him 102 RBI, the first time he has topped 100.
“I have eight years playing in the big leagues, I never got to 80,” Encarnacion said. “It’s not easy to get to 100 RBIs. Not many people make it to 100 RBIs, so that’s the bigger thing for me.”
Lind’s homer was a two-run shot to right in the first.
Henderson Alvarez (9-12) allowed three runs in seven innings to beat his childhood idol. Both pitchers were born in Valencia, Venezuela.
“(Hernandez) is the guy that I always follow,” Alvarez said through a translator. “I’m always looking forward to see what he’s doing so (I) can accomplish the same thing.”
Alvarez, who walked three and struck out two, has won back-to-back starts for the first time since July 22-28.
“He was throwing hard, and it looked like his velocity stayed with him throughout the game,” Seattle’s John Jaso said. “His fastball had good life on it and he kept it going.”
Brad Lincoln and Aaron Loup each worked one inning of relief as Toronto avoided a sixth straight defeat to Seattle.
Trailing 2-0 on Lind’s homer, the Mariners tied it in the second on Carlos Peguero’s two-run double over left fielder Rajai Davis.
Brett Lawrie’s two-run single put the Blue Jays ahead in the fourth. Colby Rasmus walked and Encarnacion followed with his homer. Encarnacuib trails Texas slugger Josh Hamilton, who leads the major leagues with 41 homers.”
Jeff Mathis hit an RBI single off Carter Capps in the fifth for an 8-2 lead, and Dustin Ackley hit a solo homer off Alvarez in the seventh.
Mathis matched a career high with the third four-hit game of his big league career, his second this season.
ON TAP
The Mariners begin a three-game series in Texas at 5:05 p.m. (PDT) today on Root Sports. Seattle’s Hisashi Iwakuma (6-4, 3.39 ERA) will start against Texas’ Yu Darvish (14-9, 4.14).
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