Music: {allcanada} Blue Jays blow 3 leads, fall to Mariners in 10th

TORONTO - The frustration of a bad series in Baltimore still lingering, the Toronto Blue Jays returned home and found their way into a whole new brand of misery.

A combination of three blown leads and three errors, one of them on a Brett Lawrie throw that would have closed out a win had it been online, led to a messy 9-5, 10-inning loss to the Seattle Mariners on Friday night, a performance that may very well be the new low point in this young season.

The good vibes from a four-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals now a distant memory, the Blue Jays (10-10) are now losers of a season-high four straight and very much have themselves to blame for this latest setback.

"Definitely gave one away tonight," said Lawrie, who fielded Kyle Seager's two-out grounder in the ninth cleanly before putting his relay to first in the dirt. "(Francisco) Cordero did his job, I couldn't make the play, threw the ball in the dirt, opened the door and they stepped right in.

"Everyone should be out celebrating a win, instead we're all a little bit down after that one, including myself. You've got to suck it up and take it for what is."

The Blue Jays took their third lead of the game in the eighth when Eric Thames opened the inning with a solo shot to centre and showing an opportunism they lacked during the three-game sweep suffered at the hands of the Orioles, tacked on some insurance when Lawrie singled, reached third on an errant pickoff throw and scored on a J.P. Arencibia sacrifice fly.

The 5-3 edge wasn't enough, as Cordero first surrendered a towering blast to centre to Michael Saunders of Victoria and then gave up the game-tying single to John Jaso after Lawrie's throwing error opened the door. Not helping matters was Arencibia's errant pickoff attempt of Munenori Kawasaki at first base that ended up in the outfield and allowed the pinch-runner to reach third, a play that manager John Farrell criticized and the catcher defended afterwards.

"J.P. in that situation probably didn't make the right decision with trying to force the throw and force the pickoff attempt," Farrell said. "Unfortunately that's what took place."

Said Arencibia: "I tried to help out a pitcher. Is it a tough situation? Yeah, but I don't shy away from it. If I make that throw, get the guy out, game's over, that's it, don't give the guy a chance. I don't play scared. I play aggressive. Sometimes you get burned, but sometimes it works. Today it obviously backfired. It's a high-risk play, but I'd do it again. I thought we had it lined up to do it and it just sailed."

An intentional walk of Dustin Ackley followed, and set the stage for Jaso, whose drive was nearly caught by a diving Rasmus, only to squirt free. Rasmus recovered to relay the ball to Kelly Johnson, who threw out Ackley at home to end the frame, but not after a fifth blown save in nine chances for the Jays.

Things really fell apart in the 10th when Luis Perez (2-1), who hadn't allowed a run in his previous 12.2 innings, had his first blip of the year, coughing up a grand slam to Saunders before a crowd of 24,303.

Brandon League then wrapped things up for the Mariners (11-10), who came in riding high after a three-game sweep of the Tigers in Detroit and showed an impressive resilience in winning their fourth in a row. Charlie Furbush (2-1) pitched a scoreless ninth for the win.

Asked if he felt his team was a victim of some poor fortune, Farrell replied: "Yeah, I guess you can say that."

"We have to make our own luck, we have to make our own breaks," he continued. "Awareness of the game situation is where that aggressiveness has got to be reined in. By no means does that mean we're going to look to play passive and stay safety first. You can point to the one pickoff play that kind of stands out. Errors are going to take place, errors are going to be made, but when you can make a decision to prevent that, that's where we've got to be a little bit smarter."

Ace Ricky Romero looked to play stopper to the streak but allowed leads of 1-0 and 3-1 to slip away in this one, despite carrying a no-hitter into the sixth inning.

The Mariners tied the game 3-3 in the top of the seventh when Jesus Montero opened the frame with a solo shot to left-centre and with two outs, Miguel Olivo singled and Casper Wells doubled him home.

Edwin Encarnacion opened the scoring with a solo blast, his fifth of the season, in the second, but Romero gave that back in the third when he walked the first two hitters of the inning and watched Saunders come around on Lawrie's fielding error on Brendan Ryan's grounder.

He pitched 6.2 innings, allowing three runs, two earned, on four hits and three walks.

"I'm disappointed in myself," he said. "It's probably the best I felt all year without a question, from the bullpen to the beginning of the game and then I had a little hiccup in that third inning. I had everything working for me tonight. That inning where they tied it up, Montero, strong guy, I think he broke his back on that home run, to be honest. It just shows the power that he has and I just hung a couple of pitches after that and they made me pay for it."

Adam Lind nearly put the Blue Jays ahead in the bottom of the seventh, when his two-out single off fellow lefty Lucas Luetge looked like it would score Arencibia. But Ichiro Suzuki charged the ball well in right and fired a strike to catcher Miguel Olivo, who dove to tag a sliding Arencibia.

Home plate umpire Greg Gibson didn't hesitate in making the call, although replays showed that Arencibia may have slid under tag.

"It was bang-bang, I thought I was in there," Arencibia said. "That's a tough call for anybody. It was one of those where I felt like I just got in, and then the tag was there, so it's really tough. That situation, that emotion, it's not an easy call."

Seattle's rally in the seventh came right after Colby Rasmus nearly put the game away in the sixth with a laser to centre with two-on and two-out. But Saunders was able to track it down and keep things close.

Rasmus, mired in an 0-for-10 slide coming in, had good swings all night. He was left stranded at third after a two-out triple in the second, and then put the Blue Jays up 3-1 with a two-run double in the fourth.

The ball deflected to shortstop Yunel Escobar, who fired to first immediately but couldn't get Ryan. Farrell came out to argue, but replays showed first base umpire Manny Gonzalez made the right call.

Notes: Travis Snider underwent an MRI on his right wrist Friday after jamming it trying to make a diving catch for triple-A Las Vegas on Thursday night. There was no immediate word about the results, but Snider will miss at least some time. He was batting .400 with four homers and 23 RBIs in 19 games with the 51s. "He's driving the ball to all fields," Farrell said of his play. "He's been in a good place offensively, he's not been so pull-oriented, his instincts on the basepaths have been consistent with what we've seen, and his defence has been solid." … The setback for Dustin McGowan has thinned out the Blue Jays' depth chart beyond the current five in the starting rotation. Asked for who's next in line if needed, Farrell replied Jesse Chavez (Las Vegas), Chad Jenkins (double-A New Hampshire) and Joel Carreno (Vegas). … Closer Sergio Santos, on the DL with shoulder inflammation, is rehabbing in California and will rejoin the team when it arrives in Anaheim next week.