By Bob Dutton
The News Tribune
MINNEAPOLIS — A week to go and the Mariners are still kicking.
They got two home runs Sunday from an ailing Nelson Cruz and a two-run shot from a suddenly hot Jesus Sucre and held on for a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins at Target Field.
“Nothing is over until it’s over,” said Cruz, who hopes to play Monday after leaving Sunday’s game because of a sore left wrist. “We’ve got to keep battling. Hopefully, at the end, we can come up and surprise a lot of people.”
It’s still a long shot.
By winning, the Mariners (82-73) enter the season’s final week trailing Baltimore (85-71) by 21⁄2 games in the race for the American League’s final wild-card berth. The Mariners also trail Detroit (83-72) by one game.
The Mariners and Tigers each have seven games remaining; the Orioles have six. The Mariners open a three-game series Monday at Houston, which is 82-74 and three games behind Baltimore.
“We need help,” manager Scott Servais said. “We know that. But we’ve got to win the series (in Houston). Get down there, hopefully get the first game and go from there.”
On Sunday, Taijuan Walker (7-11) pitched into the sixth inning before relievers Nick Vincent, Steve Cishek and Edwin Diaz nursed the one-run lead through the final 11 outs.
Diaz closed out the victory for his 17th save in 19 chances.
Walker said the tragic death of Miami pitcher Jose Fernandez early Sunday in an boating accident cast a pall over the game. Many players spent their time prior to the game watching news coverage on the clubhouse TVs.
“There was a lot of emotion from everything that happened,” said Walker, who gave up three runs and nine hits in 51⁄3 innings. “I kind of had a hard time getting going. Everything felt kind of off.”
The Mariners trailed 2-1 when Leonys Martin opened the fifth inning with a four-pitch walk against Minnesota starter Hector Santiago (12-10).
Sucre followed with a line-drive homer to left. It was Sucre’s first homer of the season and just the second of his career. Sucre had a double earlier in the game and credited a pregame tip from hitting coach Edgar Martinez.
“He said (Santiago) likes to pitch inside,” said Sucre, who is 10-for-14 since his Sept. 2 recall from Triple-A Tacoma. “That’s what I was looking for the whole time. And I put good swings on it when I saw it.”
Cruz’s second homer came while leading off the sixth inning — and after he aggravated a wrist injury while swinging through the previous pitch. It was his 41st homer of the year and boosted his RBI count to 100.
“I’ve been dealing with it for four or five days already,” he said. “Hopefully, it will calm down, and I’ll be able to go (Monday at Houston). When I extend it is when I feel it.”
Cruz said the injury is different from the sore hand that plagued him a few weeks ago: “This is better because I still have my strength. It hurts, but the pain goes away, and I can (continue playing).”
The Mariners chose not to let Cruz bat in the eighth inning.
“Hopefully, he’s going to be OK when we get to Houston,” Servais said. “It’s something he’s been able to manage. It’s been a little sore more on some days than others.”
Walker exited after Juan Centeno’s one-out single later in the sixth closed the gap to 4-3. Vincent ended the inning by getting two pop-ups.
The Mariners were clinging to that one-run lead when Steve Cishek put the tying run on base in the eighth inning by issuing a one-out walk to Robbie Grossman.
But Cishek got Juan Centeno to ground into an inning-ending double play.
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