SEATTLE -- After weeks of mostly poor performances, Marco Estrada once again flirted with a no-hitter for Toronto.And just when the Blue Jays needed that quality of a performance.Estrada took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, Edwin Encarnacion hit his 41st home run and the Blue Jays beat the Seattle Mariners 3-2 on Monday night in the opener of a critical three-game series.Estrada (9-9) had allowed only two walks before Robinson Cano led off the seventh with a line drive up the middle on a 2-1 pitch. Cano and Nelson Cruz walked in the fourth -- an inning that ended on Kevin Pillars sliding catch to save a run -- but Estrada otherwise kept the Mariners off the bases before Canos single.Estradas outing was exactly what the slumping Blue Jays needed. They arrived in Seattle having dropped two straight and four of six, and their wild-card lead dwindled in the process. Estrada was partly to blame for the September swoon. In his previous six starts, he was 1-4 with a 7.53 ERA. In September alone, Estrada had allowed 12 earned runs in 12 2/3 innings.But he was brilliant against the Mariners, keeping the thousands of Blue Jays fans that made the trip south from British Columbia cheering all night as Toronto pulled even with Baltimore for the first wild-card spot. Both teams are 2 1/2 games clear of Detroit and three ahead of Seattle and Houston.Im not really sure whats been going on, as the game gets going I start to struggle a little bit, Estrada said. We looked at video and there have been little things here and there that we caught. We changed it up and felt pretty good today.Estrada was pulled after walking Leonys Martin leading off the eighth inning, leaving to a standing ovation from the huge Blue Jays contingent. He struck out eight and walked three before being replaced by Jason Grilli.The final six outs were trying for the Blue Jays. Pinch-hitter Ben Gamel walked to put two runners on with no outs in the eighth, and Seth Smith walked on a nine-pitch at-bat with two outs to load the bases for Cano.Closer Roberto Osuna entered and got Cano to line out to the warning track in right field where Ezequiel Carrera was playing. Martin hit a two-out, two-run homer in the ninth off Osuna, but Gamel struck out looking to cap Osunas 34th save.We know whats ahead of us, and we arent going to back away from it, Seattle manager Scott Servais said. I thought our guys gave a really good effort tonight, just wasnt enough.Encarnacions two-run homer off starter Taijuan Walker (6-11) came with two outs in the third on a 0-1 pitch that was left up in the strike zone. Pillar added a two-out RBI single in the fourth inning after Troy Tulowitzki led off with a double.NEAR MISSESEstrada has never completed a no-hitter, but hes been close. He lost a no-hit bid in the eighth inning against Boston on June 5, and also pitched hitless ball into the eighth inning in consecutive starts in June 2015.Its not something that I was focused on. Obviously if it would have happened it would have been incredible but it didnt. Cano hit a pretty good pitch, Estrada said.DONALDSON TOSSEDTorontos Josh Donaldson was ejected in the seventh inning arguing with plate umpire Chris Conroy after being called out on strikes. Donaldson was already upset about a check-swing Conroy called a strike earlier in the at-bat and flipped at being called out on a fastball on the outside corner. Donaldson immediately got in Conroys face and was quickly tossed.UP NEXTBlue Jays: LHP J.A. Happ (19-4) goes for his 20th win. Happ would join Bostons Rick Porcello as the only two pitchers in baseball with 20 wins this season. Happ has won 13 of his last 14 decisions.Mariners: RHP Hisashi Iwakuma (16-11) looks for his third straight victory. 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Except that Graeme McDowell saw the whole thing. Crouched behind the 10th green at Sheshan International, McDowell looked over at the powerful American and said, "Ive probably seen 18 of the best drives Ive seen all year in the last two days.The ECB has announced Lords will stage the final of the ICC Womens World Cup in 2017. The home of cricket was named as one of five venues - along with Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Somerset, and Gloucestershire - to host the 31 matches during the tournament which begins on June 26.The event returns to England for the first time since 1993, when England beat New Zealand to relive former glories after winning the first World Cup in 1973 at Lords against Australia. ECB director of events Steve Elworthy said: This is a very exciting time for the womens game in this country and staging a Womens World Cup here will really help drive interest and participation in womens cricket at every level.Its critical we use this event to reach out to young children in particular so weve moved the tournament start date to earlier in the summer - a decision which will help our host venues encourage attendance by engaging with schools in the build-up to the event. Englands Lydia Greenway and Heather Knight celebrate victory in tthird T20 of Womens Ashes Series v Australia in 2015 Clare Connor, ECBs Director of England Womens Cricket and chair of the ICC Womens Cricket Committee, said: At a global level, the introduction of the ICC Womens Championship has made our game more competitive and exciting than ever before.dddddddddddd It has created global context and meaning to all our ODI series whereby the result of every match has a direct impact on qualification for next summers World Cup.In this country, last summers record-breaking attendances for the Womens Ashes series showed there is a growing audience and appetite for womens cricket - we witnessed excellent crowds, including full houses at Chelmsford and Hove, coupled with growing media and commercial interest.The launch of the new Womens Cricket Super League here later this year will give the womens game another significant fillip and help set the stage for what promises to be a fantastic showcase for our sport next summer. Also See: Womens cricket home Sportswomen Cricket fixtures/results Get Sky Sports ' ' '