TORONTO -- Jose Bautista hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning to lift the Blue Jays to a 7-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday for Toronto's fourth straight win.
Kendrys Morales hit a towering home run to right field in his first game back after missing three games with a strained left hamstring. He wasn't in the Blue Jays (16-21) lineup until after batting practice. Manager John Gibbons and the team's medical staff wanted to test out his legs before putting him back into action.
Marcus Stroman (3-2) gave up eight hits with two earned runs but struck out nine over six innings. Jason Grilli, Aaron Loup, Dominic Leone, Joe Smith, Leonel Campos and Roberto Osuna gave up no runs in relief.
Leone earned the win as the pitcher of record when Bautista knocked the ball out of the park.
Ryan Weber had an abbreviated start in his season debut for Seattle (17-20), throwing only 55 pitches before leaving the game in the midst of an at-bat in the fourth inning with tightness in his right shoulder. He gave up three hits and an earned run before giving way to lefty Dillon Overton, who pitched 1 1/3 innings.
Overton was followed by Tony Zych, Nick Vincent and James Pazos out of the bullpen.
Both teams wore alternate uniforms picked out with pink and used matching bats and equipment in honour of Mother's Day.
Ezequiel Carrera's RBI single in the bottom of the third gave the Blue Jays a 1-0 lead. His hit handcuffed Taylor Motter, bouncing off the glove of the diving Mariners second baseman and dribbling into shallow right field. That gave Kevin Pillar more than enough time to score from second.
It was Carrera's 17th straight game with a hit as a starter for Toronto.
Stroman, who had "Love you Momma!" written on his neon pink cleats, backed up Pillar's run with back-to-back strikeouts in the next inning to take his strikeout total up to eight after just four frames.
With two out in the bottom of the fourth, Weber grimaced and started stretching his arm after throwing a change-up strike against Ryan Goins. After consulting with Seattle's trainers Weber was pulled in favour of Overton.
Ben Gamel hit a double over Pillar's head in centre field to score Jarrod Dyson and tie the game 1-1 in the fifth before Stroman struck out his ninth batter of the game, ringing up Nelson Cruz to end the inning.
Dyson gave Seattle its first lead of the game in the top of the sixth, singling to shallow centre field to drive Danny Valencia in from second.
Morales answered for the Blue Jays in the bottom of the inning, launching a 1-0 pitch from Zych over the right-field wall to make it 2-2 and bring the 42,346 in attendance to their feet.
Bautista put the ball into the second deck of Rogers Centre in the seventh inning for a three-run homer and a 5-2 Toronto lead, cashing in Pillar and Carrera.
Pillar added to that lead with a sacrifice fly in the eighth, plating Goins and making it 6-2. The Blue Jays continued to manufacture runs in the next at-bat with Devon Travis and Luke Maile executing a double steal.
Travis didn't move off third until Mariners catcher Carlos Ruiz committed to throwing to second to try and catch Maile. Motter fired the ball back to home but Travis slid under Ruiz's tag for Toronto's first steal of home since Russell Martin did it in 2015, also on a double steal.
Notes: Right-hander Aaron Sanchez (0-1) will be activated off Toronto's disabled list in time to start Sunday's series finale against Seattle. Righty Mike Bolsinger (0-1) will make his second start of the season on Monday against the Atlanta Braves in place of injured starter Franciscio Liriano.
