Red-hot Mariners lefty James Paxton had to wait a bit Saturday afternoon to find out if his record had been raised to 3-2, but three fine relief performances indeed clinched a victory for him in Toronto.
Paxton allowed two earned runs on four hits in six innings. He walked three and fanned four in lowering his ERA to 3.52.
It was two of those walks to start the sixth that nearly cost him the win. But he recovered to induce a popout and double play that ended his outing and started the waiting game.
"This guy is special. He's a good pitcher," said Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon, per MLB.com. "He got loose after that first inning. He's like most power guys. If you don't get him early, you're probably not going to get him. He started to settle in and get his lather up, and he got to 96, 97 mph pretty easily."
Paxton has strung together five straight quality starts. He has surrendered just six runs on 21 hits in 34 innings during that stretch. He will seek to keep up the good work against equally hot Indians starter Corey Kluber next Thursday.