Toronto, ON (SportsNetwork.com) - One hour and 59 minutes -- that's how long it took the Toronto Blue Jays to beat the Seattle Mariners for a third day in a row.
Fourteen years -- that's how long it's been since Mark Buehrle failed to reach 200 innings pitched in a season.
Ryan Goins hit an RBI bloop single in the eighth inning, Buehrle worked into the ninth to reach the 200 plateau once again, and the Blue Jays held on for a 1-0 win on Wednesday night, further damaging Seattle's playoff push.
Baserunners were rare against Buehrle and Seattle starter Taijuan Walker, who combined to give up just seven hits and two walks.
Buehrle stayed in for the ninth, but was lifted after giving up a leadoff hit to Chris Taylor. Pinch-runner James Jones was then picked off on a quick move to first base by Aaron Sanchez, who got two more quick outs to seal the win.
Buehrle (13-10) struck out 10 batters, walked one and gave up three hits while reaching 202 innings for the season. The 35-year-old lefty has hit the mark in each of his 15 MLB seasons except the first, in 2000, when he pitched mostly out of the bullpen for the White Sox.
It was only Buehrle's second victory in his last 10 trips to the mound at the end of a season he started 10-1.
"He was as good as you're ever going to see him -- as good as we've seen him," said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. "His ball was really ducking and darting in there. He felt strong."
The Blue Jays, who won the first two games of the series by a combined score of 24-6, will go for the sweep on Thursday.
They've already blasted a hole in Seattle's playoff chances.
The Mariners, looking for their first postseason appearance since tying the major-league record with 116 wins in 2001, have lost five in a row. They are three games out of a wild-card spot with four to play.
"We needed to win," Walker said. "It's tough right now."
Walker (2-3) did what he could in his first career complete game, surrendering just four hits and a walk while striking out six. He fared much better than James Paxton and staff ace Felix Hernandez, who were roughed up in first two games of the series.
Buehrle faced two batters over the minimum through eight innings and the offense gave him the only run support he needed in the bottom of the inning with a little help from the Rogers Centre turf.
Munenori Kawasaki, who walked, took off on a hit-and-run and scored all the way from first base on Goins' soft blooper, which bounced high off the field in right-center field after dropping in between two outfielders and the second baseman.
The Mariners had just two runners in scoring position all night -- Corey Hart after he hit a leadoff ground-rule double in the second inning and made it to third; and Mike Zunino, who drew a leadoff walk in the sixth and went to second on a bunt.
