LDN - Sports

Mariners hit four homers, keep postseason hope alive

[October 01, 2016] SEATTLE – It's been a long time since the Seattle Mariners got to play in the postseason, so closing out the month of September with a realistic shot at playoff inclusion feels a little more special in these parts.

Even for the Mariner who's been there plenty of times before.

Second baseman Robinson Cano blasted two home runs to lead the Mariners to an early lead on the way to a 5-1 win over the Oakland A's on Friday night as Seattle ( 86-74) kept is slim playoff chances alive with two games left.

"I love this kind of situation," said Cano, who played in 51 playoff games with the New York Yankees before coming to Seattle in 2014. "It's every kid's dream come true. When you play baseball, you want to play for October."

The Mariners will welcome Oct. 1 trailing Toronto by one game in the race for the second American League wild-card spot. The Blue Jays' Friday loss to Boston helped Seattle, which has baseball's longest streak without a playoff game at 15 years, inch a little closer to postseason possibility.

"We're still breathing," manager Scott Servais said. "We needed somebody to help us out today, and we got a little bit of help. But, obviously, we just needed to take care of business."

The Mariners hit four home runs, including Cano's 37th and 38th of the season, as Seattle stormed out to a 5-0 lead over the first three innings.

Nelson Cruz and Norichika Aoki also homered for the Mariners, while Seattle starter Taijuan Walker overcame five walks to turn in a solid outing. Walker (8-11) allowed one run on two hits over six innings.

"It was one of those games where I really had to battle," Walker said.

Oakland third baseman Ryon Healy provided the only run for the A's with a solo home run in the sixth inning, his 13th homer since making his major-league debut on July 15.

A's reliever Zach Neal, who took over for struggling starter Raul Alcantara (1-3) in the third inning, retired all 15 batters he faced during five scoreless innings through the seventh.

"He gave us five innings of nothing against a team that looked like they were going to score 30 runs in the first couple innings," Oakland manager Bob Melvin said.

Left-handed reliever Daniel Coulombe came on in the eighth and got three Seattle batters in order -- Cano, Cruz and Kyle Seager, as the Mariners failed to get a single hit past the third inning.

Seattle finished with seven hits, while Oakland had just two. The A's (67-93) have lost five in a row and 10 of their last 11.

"Obviously, we're not swinging the bats very well," Melvin said. "Look at our overall numbers, and they're not that good."

Cano hit a two-run homer in the first inning, then added a solo shot, his 38th of the season, in the third. Cano and designated hitter Cruz went back-to-back in the third, giving Cruz 42 home runs on the season.

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Mariners left fielder Norichika Aoki (8) runs the bases after hitting a solo homer against the Oakland Athletics during the second inning at Safeco Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Seager nearly added a third consecutive homer, Seattle's fifth of the game, when he followed the Cruz shot with a deep fly ball to center field. Oakland's Jake Smolinski went up high to get a glove on the ball, preventing the homer, but he couldn't make the catch as Seager ended up with a double.

That ended the night for Alcantara, who gave up five runs on seven hits over two-plus innings.

"Unfortunately, he had a lot of balls in the middle of the plate and more mid-thigh than we've seen him (throw)," Melvin said. "So he just had a tough night."

Cano did some early damage with a one-out, two-run homer in the first inning, giving Seattle a 2-0 lead.

Aoki followed with a solo homer in the second inning, his fourth home run of the season.

Cano struck again in the third. His solo shot gave him 100 RBIs for the first time since 2013 -- his final season with the Yankees.

Cano is more excited about being a playoff race again.

"There's more energy," he said. "You wake up and can't wait to get to the ballpark and see what happens."

NOTES: Oakland RF Danny Valencia was a late scratch with a sore neck. Rookie Matt Olson started in Valencia's place. ... Seattle went into the day trailing co-wild-card leaders Toronto and Baltimore by two games. ... A's 1B Yonder Alonso was in the lineup after twisting a knee in the ninth inning of the previous night's game. ... Cano's three RBIs gave him 100 for the season. Cano and Nelson Cruz each have at least 30 homers and 100 RBIs this season, while 3B Kyle Seager is one RBI shy of his first career 100-RBI season. They're trying to become the first Seattle trio since Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez and Edgar Martinez in 1998 to reach that milestone in the same season. ... Oakland needs at least one win in the series to avoid posting the fourth-worst season, in terms of win percentage, in franchise history. The only three times the A's have won fewer than 67 games while posting a worse winning percentage than the .421 they brought in were in 1979 (54-108), 1977 (63-98) and 1997 (65-97).

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