Alejandro Kirk has tiebreaking hit in 6th inning as Blue Jays beat Mariners 4-3

TORONTO (AP) — Alejandro Kirk drove in the tiebreaking run with a two-out single in the sixth inning and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Seattle Mariners 4-3 on Saturday.

José Soriano (11-7) struck out six in seven innings to win for the second time in three starts. Soriano allowed three runs and three hits.

Tyler Rogers struck out two in the eighth but left after walking Julio Rodríguez. Josh Naylor singled off Mason Fluharty to advance Rodríguez to third, but Fluharty struck out Cal Raleigh to preserve the lead.

Louis Varland finished for his 31st save in 32 opportunities.

Seattle lost its third straight and dropped to 27-41 on the road.

Raleigh opened the scoring in the second with a solo home run off Soriano, his 19th. Raleigh went 2 for 3 with a walk and scored twice.

Taylor Ward made it 3-0 with a bases-loaded single in the fourth.

Toronto scored twice on a bases-loaded wild pitch in the fifth, when Brett Bateman raced home from second base after Eduard Bazardo threw wild on ball four to George Springer. Myles Straw also scored on the play.

The Blue Jays took the lead with a two-run sixth against José A. Ferrer (4-3). Bateman’s two-out single drove in the tying run, and Kirk chased Ferrer with a go-ahead hit.

Making his second big league start, Seattle left-hander Kade Anderson allowed two runs and three hits in 4 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out three.

Two of the three hits off Anderson were infield singles, including one bunt. Anderson threw 85 pitches, 54 strikes.

The third overall pick in 2025, Anderson debuted against the Cubs last Saturday, becoming the first player from his draft class to reach the majors.

Blue Jays RHP Max Scherzer (1-7, 7.02 ERA) is scheduled to start Sunday against Mariners RHP Logan Gilbert (11-7, 3.36).

___

See AP’s full MLB coverage here