Mariners at Athletics
There were some who wrote off the Seattle Mariners amid a recent 2-10 stretch, but they've managed to crawl back into the American League wild-card race with 20 games to go. The Mariners aim for a series sweep Sunday afternoon when they play the last of three games at the Oakland Athletics.
Behind a 17-hit attack and a solid start by Felix Hernandez, Seattle cruised to a 14-3 win in Saturday's middle game of the set, staying within 3 1/2 games of the second wild-card spot. Nelson Cruz had three hits and three RBIs in the Mariners' fourth straight win as he improved to .418 with 10 RBIs against the A's this season. Norichika Aoki also contributed three hits and he is 4-for-9 with a home run, three RBIs and four runs scored in the series for Seattle, which will be aiming for its first series sweep since Aug. 8-10. Oakland fell to 3-5 on its current homestand and registered its 41st home loss, which guarantees the club consecutive losing seasons at home for the first time since 1997-98.
TV: 4:05 p.m. ET, ROOT (Seattle), CSN California (Oakland)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Mariners LH James Paxton (4-6, 4.03 ERA) vs. Athletics RH Raul Alcantara (0-1, 15.00)
Paxton struck out eight and did not walk a batter for the first time this season his last time out but he was chased after 4 1/3 innings, allowing six runs and nine hits. He has failed to get beyond five frames in three starts since being activated from the disabled list last month and has given up 24 hits in 14 1/3 innings in that span. The 27-year-old is 2-0 with a 2.63 ERA in two career starts against Oakland.
Alcantara will be making his second career start after 123 games in the minors, and hoping for some better results. He gave up five runs and five hits while failing to record a strikeout in three innings against the Los Angeles Angels on Monday in his big league debut. The Dominican Republic native has thrown 135 2/3 innings across three levels, nearing his career high of 156 1/3 in 2013.
WALK-OFFS
1. Mariners 2B Robinson Cano has reached base in 14 consecutive games.
2. A's LF Khris Davis is 0-for-14 with seven strikeouts in his last four games.
3. Seattle is 51-36 against right-handed pitching.