Mariners edge A's, stay in wild-card hunt
SEATTLE -- Mike Zunino broke a tie with a leadoff homer in the seventh inning, and the Seattle Mariners held off a ninth-inning Oakland rally to keep their slim postseason chances alive with a 3-2 win over the A's on Thursday night.
Zunino took Oakland reliever Liam Hendriks (0-4) deep in the seventh, and Ketel Marte added an RBI single in the eighth to help Seattle earn its fourth win in five games.
The Mariners (85-74) stayed within two games of co-leaders Toronto and Baltimore in the American League wild-card standings. The Orioles (87-72) beat the Blue Jays (87-72) earlier Thursday.
The Detroit Tigers (85-73) are 1 1/2 games out in the wild-card race after their scheduled game against the Cleveland Indians was rained out.
Toronto, Baltimore and Seattle have three games remaining. Detroit has four to go, including a potential makeup game.
Steve Cishek (4-6) earned the win for the Mariners with 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief.
Closer Edwin Diaz wriggled out of a jam in the ninth to earn his 18th save of the season. Diaz gave up three hits, including an RBI single to pinch hitter Bruce Maxwell, before striking out Yonder Alonso and Max Muncy to strand runners on first and third.
Zunino went 2-for-3 with his 12th home run of the season, while Seattle teammates Marte, Norichika Aoki, Adam Lind and Leonys Martin had two hits apiece. Martin added an RBI on a fourth-inning single.
Oakland rookie Chad Pinder hit his first career home run. His leadoff shot in the sixth inning tied the score 1-1. Right fielder Danny Valencia had two hits for the A's (67-92).
Seattle starter Ariel Miranda allowed one run, on a solo homer from A's rookie Chad Pinder, off four hits over 5 1/3 innings.
Oakland starter Kendall Graveman, who limped through an ankle injury he sustained in the fourth inning, also allowed just one run on seven hits over 5 2/3 innings.
Seattle scored the first run of the game on a Martin two-out hit in the fourth. Martin's single, the third in a row by the Mariners, scored Kyle Seager from second base for a 1-0 lead but eventually resulted in the third out when Martin was caught in a rundown that led to Lind being thrown out at home plate.
NOTES: Seattle DH Nelson Cruz, playing through a sore wrist, went 1-for-3 with a walk. ... The Mariners improved to 11-5 record against Oakland this year. The A's are 4-3 at Safeco Field, but they won just one of nine games played in Oakland. ... The A's, having been swept in a series against the Angels earlier this week, are guaranteed of finishing in the AL West cellar for the second year in a row. The only other time Oakland finished in last place in back-to-back seasons was in 1997 and 1998.