Finally, a feel-good night for Mariners

TORONTO — At a closed-door, pregame meeting, Mariners players were told they had to start having more fun at the ballpark.

The gathering between players and coaches was the result of the firing earlier Monday of hitting coach Jeff Pentland, coming after a week of turmoil. Mariners manager John McLaren told all players they had a chance to begin with a fresh slate and make something of their season in its final 99 games.

It took the Mariners 10 innings and more than three hours to finally heed McLaren's call. But there was ample laughter, joking and an overall release of clubhouse tension moments after a "suicide squeeze" bunt in the 10th propelled them to a 3-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

"You've just got to make sure you see the ball and put it in play," Miguel Cairo said after getting down a one-out bunt off reliever Brian Wolfe to bring pinch-runner Willie Bloomquist home. "It was a tough pitch, too. I just put the ball in play and I'm lucky I got out in front of it."

The Mariners have waited all year to pull off one of those plays. They got other interesting plays in this bizarre game, such as Kenji Johjima laying down the first sacrifice bunt of his career. Miguel Batista also got to make a rare relief appearance in a ballpark where he spent a year as Toronto's closer.

R.A. Dickey knuckleballed his way through two late, shutout innings to record his first win since 2005.

But the biggest play of the night again involved Cairo. The Blue Jays had loaded the bases in the 10th with nobody out against Seattle closer J.J. Putz.

That's when Centralia native Lyle Overbay hit a hard grounder toward Cairo, who had entered the game at first base after pinch-running for Richie Sexson in the ninth inning. Cairo scooped up the ball and fired home to catcher Johjima for the first out, then retreated to his bag and took the ensuing throw to cap a huge 3-2-3 double play.

Putz walked the next batter, Marco Scutaro, to again load the bases. But David Eckstein flied out to center to end the game, drawing groans from the 20,073 fans at the Rogers Centre.

Cairo said he knew he had to turn the double play the moment the ball was hit his way.

"I'm not afraid to screw up," Cairo said, adding he never hesitated in aggressively attacking the ball. "If you're afraid, you don't belong here."

And so, the Mariners were a happy crew afterward, voices echoing throughout the clubhouse corridors as McLaren talked postgame about his reasons for the earlier meeting.

"I just emphasized to them that we've got to get back to a situation where we can feel good about ourselves," he said.

For a while, though, it appeared that this rare road win might not happen.

A two-run homer by Jose Vidro in the game's second at-bat, off Toronto starter Jesse Litsch, was all the runs the Mariners mustered through nine innings. The Mariners had 10 hits by the sixth, but couldn't put any more runs across.

They failed to generate another hit after the sixth. But Toronto was plagued by a flurry of late-game walks, including two in the 10th to get the winning rally started.

Mariners starter Jarrod Washburn tossed six strong innings and left with a 2-1 lead. But Toronto tied it in the seventh when a two-out throwing error by Yuniesky Betancourt, with Batista on the mound, allowed the tying run to score.

Batista was used in relief because the M's did not have the services of right-hander Brandon Morrow, who has been battling soreness in his shoulder the past few days. Morrow should be available again tonight, but, with right-hander Sean Green's arm also taxed, the Mariners went to starter Batista.

After that, it was Dickey, who said afterward the team needed a win like this to get the clubhouse atmosphere bearable again. Dickey described the pregame meeting as a positive experience.

"I think it was well-received," he said. "It wasn't a browbeating meeting. I don't want to sound corny, but it was kind of a share-your-heart meeting. We have almost 100 games left and we can do something."

Dickey added that the clubhouse tension had been palpable in recent days leading up to Pentland's firing.

"You'd better believe it — thick," he said. "It didn't make for a fun clubhouse when you're coming in and getting your butt kicked."

For this one day, at least, the Mariners had their butts covered.

Geoff Baker: 206-464-8286 or gbaker@seattletimes.com.

Read his daily blog at www.seattletimes.com/Mariners