TORONTO (CP) - Clinging to post-season hopes that are best described as the stuff of fantasy, the Toronto Blue Jays closed the books on August by sending the Seattle Mariners deeper into their free-fall.
Home runs from Troy Glaus, Lyle Overbay and Alex Rios backed a just-good-enough Shaun Marcum in a 7-5 victory Friday night that capped a 15-13 month for the home side.
The fourth victory in six games for the Blue Jays (68-66), before a crowd of 34,518, lifted them within 5½ games of the Mariners (73-60), now losers of seven straight, for second in the wild card race.
The Detroit Tigers remain between the expansion cousins in the wild-card standings, with the New York Yankees at the front of the pack, one up on Seattle and 6½ in front of Toronto.
''The odds are against us,'' said manager John Gibbons. ''We still haven't been eliminated yet. Run the race and see where it gets us.''
Still, the grim realities of trying to chase down three teams with one month of baseball left hasn't kept the Blue Jays from dreaming big. For their fantasy to come true, they'll need to sweep the Mariners, do some major damage in their seven remaining dates with the Yankees and get some help from others.
''It's going to be a tough road just because we've put ourselves in a hole,'' said Overbay. ''But we can battle and we can get to where we want to be and maybe bring something a little positive to next year.''
Friday's affair was a good start, as a dogged Marcum (12-5) survived five innings and left leading 6-4 as the offence smacked around a very shaky Jarrod Washburn (9-12). Jeremy Accardo capped four strong innings by the bullpen with a scoreless ninth - thanks to a spectacular 4-6-3 double play with the bases loaded to end it - for his 26th save.
''Those are two Gold Glove candidates playing there behind us,'' Accardo said of second baseman Aaron Hill and shortstop John McDonald. ''That's all you can really ask of them.''
The game-saving play came on a Raul Ibanez smash that ricocheted off the mound that forced Hill to change direction in order to snare. He then flipped the ball to McDonald, who leaped over a hard-charging Jose Guillen as he relayed it to first.
''I thought we had them there,'' lamented Mariners manager John McLaren. ''When Raul hit that ball, I thought it was through.''
Seattle opened the scoring in the first on Adrian Beltre's run-scoring infield single and after McDonald's two-run triple put Toronto up 2-1 in the second, Beltre tied it in the third with a solo shot.
''They did a great job of scoring runs,'' said Marcum. ''I just had to do whatever I could to keep us in the ballgame even though I wasn't pitching that great.
''I didn't really have command of anything.''
The Blue Jays then really went to work on Washburn, as Glaus ripped a two-run blast, his 18th, and Overbay later added a solo shot, his 10th, for a 5-2 lead. Overbay homered for the second straight game, his first longballs since May 28.
''I'm still not consistent, that's the biggest problem for me,'' said Overbay. ''I think I'm getting closer to being consistent, I guess.''
Rios drove his 22nd over the wall in left-centre for a 6-2 lead in the fourth but the Mariners showed a pulse when Jose Vidro hit a two-run blast, his sixth, in the fifth to make it a two-run game.
A Kenji Johjima RBI double off Casey Janssen in the eighth scored Raul Ibanez, who walked against Scott Downs, and pulled Seattle within one. The Blue Jays responded with a rare manufactured run in the bottom of the frame against closer J.J. Putz as Rios singled, stole second and scored on a Frank Thomas base hit.
Seattle - mired in its second seven-game losing streak of the season, they also have two six-game losing skids - was without slugger Richie Sexson (left hamstring) and second baseman Jose Lopez (benched).
''We've got to stay strong mentally and keep battling,'' said Ibanez. ''We're still in a great situation, still have a great opportunity and that's the way I look at it.''
Washburn allowed six runs on seven hits and five walks in 3 1-3 innings.
''I was brutal,'' said Washburn. ''I had no clue where the ball was going tonight.''
Notes: Outfielder Adam Lind will join the Blue Jays on Saturday as the first of the club's September callups. Another four players, including lefty Joe Kennedy, will join them Monday and Tuesday once the season ends for triple-A Syracuse. ''It's more of an audition,'' GM J.P. Ricciardi said of Kennedy. ''It'd be nice to have three lefties in the pen instead of two.'' C Sal Fasano, INF Hector Luna and RHP Josh Banks are likely to be the others. .. Jays catching prospect Robinzon Diaz is out 6-to-8 weeks with a broken hamate bone in his hand. He's expected to play winter ball in the Dominican Republic once he's recovered. .. Blue Jays lefty Gustavo Chacin is expected to be fully ready for next spring after undergoing surgery on his shoulder Wednesday. A small tear in his rotator cuff was discovered during exploratory surgery. ''He should be ready to acutally pitch and compete for a job,'' said Ricciardi. ''We need as much depth as we can get.''