Albers, Cano lead Mariners to 10-2 win over A’s for sweep

Published 1:30 am Sunday, September 3, 2017

SEATTLE — So far, this “No Sucking in September” campaign is off to a great start at Safeco Field.

The Mariners completed a three-game sweep Sunday over the Oakland Athletics with a 10-2 romp behind a dominant performance from pitcher Andrew Albers and a balanced offensive attack that produced 17 hits.

The “No Sucking” campaign is an environmental move in which plastic straws are no longer distributed with beverages but, hey, three straight victories this weekend effectively revived the Mariners’ flagging postseason hopes.

“We’re just focusing on one day at a time,” right fielder Mitch Haniger said, “one game at a time. This was a big series and a big win today. Now, we’re just focusing on (Monday) and taking it one game at a time against Houston.”

Yep, it’s about to get tougher. First-place Houston, bolstered by the recent addition of Justin Verlander, arrives Monday for three games. Then three games next weekend against the surging Los Angeles Angels.

Sunday’s victory boosted the Mariners back over .500 at 69-68 and pulled them to within 21/2 games of Minnesota in the race for the American League’s final wild-card berth.

It all started with Albers, who retired the first 11 batters he faced before Ryon Healy worked a two-out walk in the fourth inning.

Albers (3-1) lost his no-hitter, and his shutout, when Matt Olson led off the sixth inning with a slicing drive that cleared the left-field wall. That cut the Mariners’ lead to 3-1.

“I wasn’t going to finish the game,” Albers said, “but you know what’s going on. I give up a lot of hits, so I usually don’t get that far into a game where I haven’t given up a hit yet.

“I wouldn’t have liked to give it up the way I did but, at the same time, you’re in the sixth inning. It’s a 3-0 game. I feel the worst thing I can do there is walk a guy. I’m going to continue to attack.”

Albers retired the next three hitters, but that pushed his pitch count to 101. His day was done. The Mariners’ attack, though, was just getting started. They scored seven runs over their final three innings.

Haniger and Robinson Cano each had four hits, including a homer. Jean Segura continued his recent revival with three hits and scored three runs. Backup catcher Chooch Ruiz had a homer before igniting a five-run eighth with a leadoff double.

One point not to overlook: Nick Vincent stranded two inherited runners after entering a 5-2 game with no outs in the eighth inning. His ERA is down to 1.87.

The Mariners closed the game with a battery of reliever Shae Simmons and catcher Mike Marjama.

That was notable in that Simmons made his season debut after spending the entire season on disabled list because of a strained elbow. Marjama was making his big-league debut.

Simmons is the 40th different pitcher used this season by the Mariners, which ties the MLB record set by Texas in 2014. The Mariners, overall, have used a franchise-record 61 players.

“We have accomplished the unbelievable feat of using 40 pitchers in a season,” manager Scott Servais noted wryly. “A lot of different ways to get here, but we’re a game over .500 with a couple of big series coming up.”