Mariners Notebook | Felix Hernandez gets strikeouts when he needed them

TORONTO — Strikeouts have always been a big part of the Felix Hernandez repertoire.

But Wednesday afternoon, it was the timing of the strikeouts that helped Hernandez. He relied on quick ground-ball outs in a 2-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays to get him through some early innings and conserve energy for when he needed it most.

That came on a pair of critical at-bats by Blue Jays slugger Vernon Wells in the fourth and sixth innings, each time with a runner on third and less than two out. Wells putting the ball in play might have resulted in a run. But Hernandez made sure that didn't happen by striking out Wells both times.

"I was trying to strike him out," Hernandez said. "We've got a runner on third with less than two out. I can't let that run score. So, I've got to strike him out."

One of the areas Hernandez has needed work in the past few years, during a steady climb to what the team hopes will become "ace" status, is his ability to last deep into games. In the past, he'd log a number of early strikeouts, but the number of pitches that took — combined with a penchant for being too fine and issuing walks — wound up forcing him from games by the middle innings.

Hernandez has talked often this year about needing to conserve pitches. He was right on schedule in this one, throwing an average of only 10 pitches per inning through the sixth.

"I'm just trying to throw strikes," he said. "Throw my two-seamer and get some quick outs."

That two-seam, sinking fastball got Hernandez eight ground-ball outs — versus three strikeouts — in the first four innings. Later on, with the game tight, he had enough left in his arm to dial up additional strikeouts.

Hernandez finished with eight strikeouts, including the 500th of his career when he fanned Rod Barajas in the eighth inning. The 22-year-old hasn't allowed an earned run in 21 consecutive innings and is pitching smarter than he has at any time during his brief career.

The only thing that stopped him Wednesday wasn't wearing a Toronto uniform. Hernandez had thrown only 97 pitches through eight innings when he was pulled from the game after telling coaches that his calf muscle was tightening up on him again.

The calf first started bothering Hernandez during a start last month and caused him to push another outing back by a couple of days.

"I didn't finish the game because of my leg," he said. "The seventh inning was long and my leg was getting tighter and tighter."

So tight that even after a 1-2-3 eighth inning, punctuated by the milestone strikeout on Barajas, his day was done. One inning later, so were the Blue Jays.

Ichiro steals No. 300

Ichiro added another milestone to a career filled with them by collecting his 300th stolen base as a major-leaguer during a crucial ninth-inning rally. The score was tied when Ichiro drew a leadoff walk against Toronto closer B.J. Ryan.

When Willie Bloomquist fanned for out No. 2 of the inning, Ichiro knew he'd have to take off despite there being a lefty closer on the mound.

"I wasn't sure if I was able to find the right timing," Ichiro said. "But I thought I had to."

And so, he did steal second base with Miguel Cairo batting. Ichiro then went one better, snagging third base — for No. 300 — during the same plate appearance by Cairo, who later drew a walk.

Raul Ibanez singled to right field to get the winning run home.

"For us to win the game, we wanted a run in that situation," said Ichiro, who has 28 stolen bases this season. "For us to make that happen, it was important for me to get to second base."

Blue Jays get tossed

A bizarre scene took place on the field during the ninth inning when Blue Jays manager John Gibbons was thrown out of the game for arguing balls and strikes with plate umpire Andy Fletcher. The umpire had just ejected Ryan for sniping about his failure to obtain an inning-ending strikeout on Cairo before Ibanez's hit.

Once Gibbons was ejected, he continued to argue, then strolled to the mound and signaled for a pitching change. Mariners manager John McLaren stared on from the visitors dugout unsure of what was taking place.

McLaren admitted that he and his coaching staff weren't certain whether Gibbons was allowed to be making a pitching change once he'd been ejected. They watched in confusion before the umpiring crew hustled Gibbons off the field.

"I'll be honest with you, I don't know," McLaren said of the rules on it. "That was a new one on me."

Beltre rested

Mariners third baseman Adrian Beltre, struggling at the plate and nursing a torn thumb ligament that will require surgery at some point, was given a much-needed day off to begin the game. Willie Bloomquist took his spot at third base and hit second in the order so that No. 2 hitter Jose Lopez could replace Beltre in the No. 5 position.

But Beltre did enter the game as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning, drawing a walk after replacing Jeremy Reed.

Botched bunt

Seattle nearly squandered a game-tying rally in the seventh inning after Reed and Richie Sexson led off with singles. Kenji Johjima attempted to put down the second sacrifice bunt of his career, but popped the ball into the mitt of pitcher Shaun Marcum, who then turned and fired to second to double off Reed.

But McLaren, who pulled Reed out of Tuesday's game for getting picked off second base by a wide margin, said the runner was merely doing his job by getting a jump on the bunt and simply got caught in no man's land.

"I had to cut him a little slack there," he said.

Note

• The Mariners won their first series in Toronto since August 2002.

For the record

Streak: W1

Home: 14-18

Road: 10-24

vs. AL West: 10-14

vs. L.A.: 3-6

vs. Oakland: 3-2

vs. Texas: 4-6

vs. AL East: 8-17

vs. AL Cent.: 4-10

vs. NL: 2-1

vs. LHP: 4-12

vs. RHP: 20-30

Day: 8-14

Night: 16-28

One-run: 7-13

Extra innings: 3-2