Miranda, Smith lead the Mariners past the Astros

Published 1:30 am Sunday, September 18, 2016

SEATTLE — Seth Smith hit a pair of home runs and drove in four runs to back up a solid outing by Ariel Miranda and the Seattle Mariners remained in the thick of the congested wild-card race with a 7-3 victory over the Houston Astros on Sunday.

The Mariners (79-70) are tied with Detroit (79-70), which beat Cleveland 9-5. Seattle came into the day trailing Toronto, which holds the second wild card spot, by two games.

Smith had a solo shot in the third and a three-run blast in the fourth, both on 3-1 pitches from ex-Mariner Doug Fister (12-12). He now has 16 home runs on the season, one short of his career high.

Miranda (5-1), acquired in a trade with Baltimore on July 31 for lefty Wade Miley, went seven innings — his longest outing in 10 starts with Seattle — allowing two runs on three hits. He walked one and struck out eight.

Kyle Seager opened the scoring with a two-run double in the first. He has hit safely in 18 of his past 20 games at Safeco Field, batting .400 (28-for-70).

George Springer had a solo homer, his 28th, to lead off the second for the Astros. That ended Miranda’s 19-inning scoreless string, the fifth longest for a rookie in Mariners history.

Carlos Correa also had a solo home run in the seventh, his 20th.

The Mariners have won nine of their past 11 games.