BY MIKE CORMACK
sportsnet.ca

TORONTO - The old saying goes like this: good teams find ways to win and bad teams find ways to lose.

And as the Toronto Blue Jays learned Tuesday night, the Seattle Mariners right now are a very bad baseball team.

Despite a rough beginning to starter Brett Cecil’s night while his Seattle counterpart Michael Pineda looked every part the A.L. Rookie of the Year favourite, the Blue Jays still managed to claw out a 6-5, 14-inning win before a sparse Rogers Centre crowd of 15,957.

John McDonald was the hero for Toronto in the bottom of the 14th with an RBI sac fly cashing in Rajai Davis from third base after the Jays centre fielder had stolen second and third to get into scoring position.

McDonald entered the game in the top of the 10th to play short after Davis had come in to pinch run for Yunel Escobar in the bottom of the ninth.

Six Toronto relievers combined to blank Seattle over the final seven innings.

"It was just a solid contribution from everybody on the bench tonight," said Jays manager John Farrell.

Casey Janssen—making his first appearance since being activated off the DL earlier in the day—pitched a scoreless 14th to get the win and improve to 3-0.

For Seattle it was their 10th straight defeat, while the 14 innings of baseball tied for the most Toronto has played in a single game in 2011.

Cecil had put the Jays in an early hole after giving up a run in the first and then four more in the second highlighted by Greg Halman’s three-run homer and a Brendan Ryan’a solo shot staking the Mariners to an early 5-2 lead.

Farrell said both home runs were a result of Cecil leaving pitches up in the zone—something he again reiterated his young starter must avoid if he’s to be successful.

"For him to be effective up here, he’s got to pitch in the bottom of the strikezone," he said.

And from the second-inning on Tuesday, the Blue Jays 25-year-old lefthander did just that, grinding out seven innings of five-run, nine-hit ball while striking out two.

When asked what changed between the second and third innings, Cecil offered a simple two-word answer.

"John Farrell," he explained. "After the second inning he came over and basically told me to get my (stuff) together and get the ball down. I should know by now to keep the ball down."

Meanwhile Pineda, despite giving up a two-run home run to Adam Lind in the first inning, looked dominant for most of the evening before allowing the Jays back into the game in the seventh.

Aaron Hill got things going for Toronto when he snapped a 0-for-12 skid by lacing a leadoff double to left. Two batters later following a walk to Cory Patterson, and still up 5-2, Seattle considered pulling Pineda with the red-hot Escobar at the plate, but instead opted to leave him in.

The Blue Jays short stop—who earlier had singled off Pineda to reach base safely in a career-high 23 straight games—responded by ripping a double down the right field line to cash in Hill and chase the Mariners starter.

With Aaron Laffey now in to pitch, right fielder Eric Thames followed with an RBI sac fly to bring the Jays to within one at 5-4, with two out and Jose Bautista now at the plate.

The Blue Jays designated hitter—playing for the first time in three games after suffering a sprained right ankle on Thursday vs. New York—delivered with a single up the middle that scored Escobar and tied the game at 5-5.

Things remained that way until the bottom of the 14th when Davis singled up the middle with one out bringing McDonald to the plate, the latter fully aware of his teammate’s intentions.

"The great thing about Rajai is you know he loves to steal third base," said McDonald. "He loves to steal every time he’s out there so you kind of anticipate it and want to let him do his thing."

Davis said he relished the chance to cause havoc for the opposition.

"I think that’s where I have my most fun, on the bases," he said. "It’s just exciting to be in that position with opportunities to help us win a game."

On a night where every Jays position player saw action with the exception of catcher Jose Molina, and every member of the bullpen but Frank Francisco toed the rubber, there were plenty of opportunities to contribute.

"With the way our bullpen pitched tonight, with the way Brett settled down, Casey Janssen after being on the DL coming in at the end...everybody kind of fed off that," said McDonald. "As well as they pitched, we just wanted to give them the opportunity to get a win because they battled so hard."

NOTES:Adam Lind’s first-inning home run was his first in 17 games…Travis Snider made his first start in CF and made two sparkling defensive plays in the field. At the plate he went 0-for-5… Following the game Farrell said Escobar was pinch run for due to strategic reasons and not because of injury.