King Felix struggles as Jays beat Mariners

TORONTO – There were several bright spots in Toronto’s 10-2 rout of the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night at Rogers Centre.

Canadian Dalton Pompey hit his first career home run. Edwin Encarnacion belted his 34th homer of the season. Jose Bautista scored three times and R.A. Dickey had his sixth straight quality start.

The smiles faded shortly after the game when Kansas City completed a 7-1 win over Cleveland, a result that officially eliminated Toronto from post-season contention.

The Blue Jays had been clinging to faint playoff hopes for the last two weeks. A second straight blowout win was nice for the 16,272 fans in attendance, but it meant little for a team that remains stuck in a long playoff drought.

“Having not gotten to the post-season again with a team that I felt was very capable, of course we’re all disappointed and we should be,” Dickey said. “Everyone in here should be disappointed. So you’ve got to learn, you’ve got to grow, you’ve got to look for opportunities to see how you can improve and get better or the season is lost.”

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Pompey, from Mississauga, Ont., belted a no-doubt shot to deep right field off Felix Hernandez to kick off a seven-run fifth inning. Encarnacion added a two-run shot in the sixth for Toronto (80-77).

It was a rare off-night for Hernandez (14-6), a leading contender in the American League Cy Young Award race. He tied a career high by allowing eight earned runs over 4 2/3 innings.

Hernandez’s earned-run average jumped from 2.07 to 2.34 in his shortest start of the season.

“As an ace, I take responsibility,” he said. “I let my team down. That’s my fault.”

The loss dealt a blow to Seattle’s playoff hopes. The Mariners (83-74) fell three games behind Kansas City in the race for the second American League wild-card spot.

“We’re not playing well right now,” said Seattle manager Lloyd McClendon. “A lot of things are going wrong, but we’re still alive.”

Dickey (14-12) breezed through the first two innings before getting into trouble in the third. Victoria native Michael Saunders led off with a double and moved to third on Brad Miller’s one-out single.

Austin Jackson walked to load the bases and Robinson Cano drove in two runs with a single that eluded a diving Ryan Goins at second base.

The Blue Jays batted around in the fifth inning. Pompey got things started by launching a 3-1 pitch into the second deck in right field.

“It was kind of a shock for a moment,” he said. “Like who was pitching, the ball I hit. I played with that guy in video games you know.

“To think I just hit a home run off him was pretty crazy.”

Hernandez was pulled after walking Pompey later in the inning. The seven earned runs allowed in one inning were a career high for the veteran right-hander.

Dickey, meanwhile, allowed two earned runs, walked a pair and had six strikeouts over seven innings. Brett Cecil and Casey Janssen each pitched an inning of scoreless relief.

The Blue Jays will close out the season with two more games against Seattle before a weekend series against the visiting Baltimore Orioles. Toronto hasn’t reached the post-season since winning a second straight World Series title in 1993.

“I won’t reflect one bit, I’ve been doing it for six months,” said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. “What sticks out? I don’t know — a lot of good times, a lot of tough times.

“Like I’ve said, in the end teams that get there, earn it. The best teams go. The ones that aren’t, they don’t go. That’s just the way it is when you play that many games.”

Notes: Gibbons has pencilled in his rotation for the rest of the season. Mark Buehrle will start Wednesday and Daniel Norris will get the nod in Thursday’s series finale. Drew Hutchison is tabbed to pitch Friday against Baltimore, followed by J.A. Happ on Saturday and Dickey on Sunday. Marcus Stroman will be available out of the bullpen, Gibbons said. … Seattle returns home after this series to close out the campaign with a weekend set against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. … Cecil has recorded at least one strikeout in nine straight appearances. … Hockey Night in Canada host George Stroumboulopoulos threw out the ceremonial first pitch. … The game took two hours 36 minutes to play.

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