TORONTO (AP) – Mariners hitting coach Edgar Martinez is away from the team this weekend so he can watch friend and former teammate Ken Griffey Jr. be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Sunday.
Seattle’s batters seem be faring just fine without him.
Hisashi Iwakuma pitched six innings to win his fifth straight start, Nelson Cruz hit his ninth career grand slam and homered twice, and the Mariners matched a season high with 19 hits Saturday in a 14-5 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Cruz hit his slam off R.A. Dickey in the third, and had a three-run drive off Drew Storen in the eighth for his 20th career multi-homer game. He has 25 home runs this season, the fourth-highest total in the AL.
“We miss Edgar and we showed him that we miss him,” Cruz joked.