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TORONTO — Up in the majors for an extended look this time, rather than just a one-off cameo, David Purcey began his latest stint with the Toronto Blue Jays by picking up his first big-league victory.
Backed by a pair of Alex Rios home runs, the left-hander was able to relax on the mound and allowed three runs in six solid innings during an 8-3 win Saturday over the dreadful Seattle Mariners.
"It's really comforting to know they're giving me a couple of games to see how it goes," said Purcey. "That's the best part for me because I've already started my routine for the next five days and it's nice knowing I'm going to be here."
The second multi-homer game of Rios' career paced another solid team effort at the plate for the Blue Jays (53-51), who matched a season-high with their fifth straight win. They scored in each of the first six innings to send the Mariners (38-65) to a seventh consecutive defeat before a crowd of 33,041.
Toronto's Alex Rios rounds the bases on his solo home run in the first inning. (Aaron Harris/CP)
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- Seattle Mariners
- Toronto Blue Jays
- Kane Davis
- R.A. Dickey
- Jason Frasor
- Joe Inglett
- Jose Lima
- David Purcey
- Alex Rios
- Matt Stairs
- Shannon Stewart
- Ichiro Suzuki
- Vernon Wells
- Brad Wilkerson
Purcey, the 26-year-old chosen 16th overall in the 2004 draft, was a big part of that. He made a pair of fill-in starts earlier this season — allowing a run in 4 1-3 innings versus Detroit on April 18 and getting thumped for eight runs in three innings at Philadelphia May 16 — but is due to get a longer look now that Dustin McGowan's season is over.
"With Dustin out we need someone to step up and (Purcey) did today," said manager Cito Gaston. "If he can continue to go out and pitch like he did today, just give us a chance to win a ballgame, that's what he did. He gave us more than a chance."
McGowan, out since July 9 with a torn rotator cuff, will undergo surgery Thursday to clean up some fraying of the labrum in his right shoulder. The tear in his rotator cuff will also be examined then to determine if further surgery is necessary.
The team is hoping he'll be ready to go next spring.
In the interim, Purcey (1-1) has a chance to push himself into the team's plans and Saturday's outing was a good first step in that direction. While he didn't dominate the Mariners, he was in control throughout his six innings and was overpowering at times.
"It's nice getting the win," said Purcey, who was given a game-ball by Gregg Zaun after the game. "But trying to put up and stay here is the ideal for me."
A big moment for him came in the sixth, when Jose Lopez's two-run shot cut Toronto's lead to 6-3. Two more Mariners reached later in the inning and Gaston came out to the mound but left Purcey in to face Yuniesky Betancourt, who grounded out to end the threat.
Purcey, expecting to be pulled, was ready to hand the ball over and was pleasantly surprised by the confidence Gaston showed in him.
"Normally when I see a manager come out, it means you're done and they're going to go to the bullpen," said Purcey. "He goes, 'You want to give me the ball?' I go, 'No.' He goes, 'OK, go get the next guy.'
"I was grateful for it, got a groundball and did the job."
Meanwhile Rios, who seems to slowly be rediscovering his power, hit the first of his two blasts off knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (2-6) to open the scoring in the first.
Purcey gave that back in the second on Lopez's RBI double but then settled down while his offence battered Dickey for eight runs in 5 1-3 innings.
They took a 2-1 lead when Scott Rolen's sacrifice fly brought home Matt Stairs, who had tripled to open the inning. Joe Inglett came around in the third on a wild pitch while a sacrifice by Brad Wilkerson and Inglett's run-scoring double made it 5-1 in the fourth.
Rios homered again in the fifth — his eighth of the season, four of them in the last week — and he brought home another run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth, one batter after Inglett's RBI single.
"Four home runs certainly shows you he's starting to get that old swing back from last year," Gaston said of Rios. "He's a big part of this team and we need him to step up and he's stepping up."
Said Rios: "I'm a little more relaxed than I was before. I think that's the biggest part about it."
Ichiro Suzuki singled in the ninth off Jason Frasor to end an 0-for-14 drought and moved him to within four hits of 3,000 in his career between Japan (1,278) and the majors (1,718).
NOTES: CF Vernon Wells (strained left hamstring) took batting practice for the second straight day Saturday and put several balls into the seats. There's still no timetable for his return. ... The Blue Jays recently sold triple-A pitcher Kane Davis to the Kia Tigers, a South Korean team. He replaced former big-league Jose Lima, who was released, on the Tigers roster. ... OF Shannon Stewart (sprained right ankle) played in his first rehab game Friday, going 2-for-2 with a walk and an RBI for the single-A Gulf Coast Blue Jays.
