Cruz, M's power too much in afternoon win

Nelson Cruz crushed two home runs, part of a three-home run day for the Mariners in a 6-3 win over Oakland on Wednesday afternoon.

Cruz hammered a 3-1 pitch from losing pitcher Jharel Cotton (6 IP, 6 ER) in the third, a two-run shot to extend the lead for Seattle to 5-1. The designated hitter added a solo blast to dead center field off Cotton in the fifth, his 26th of the season and seventh to leave the yard in 13 games against Oakland in 2017.

Seattle, which swept the two-game series and is very much a part of the American League Wild Card race, moved to 59-56 overall.

Kyle Seager was the first middle of the order bat to get to Cotton.

After Jean Segura and Robinson Cano had singles in the first, Seager ripped a change up deep into the right-center field seats to give the Mariners a quick, 3-0 cushion.

Oakland (50-64) got one back immediately in the bottom of the first. Matt Joyce took the third pitch he saw from Yovani Gallardo and hit a solo home run to make it 3-1.

Gallardo settled in enough to allow just three earned runs, but didn't qualify for a decision after just 4 1/3 innings of work. Emilio Pagan picked up the much-deserved win after tossing one-hit ball over 2 2/3 innings. The rookie right-hander and former 10th round draft selection has a 2.48 ERA and allowed less than a base runner per inning in 13 appearances (29 IP).

Khris Davis clubbed his 31st home run in the third, and the only run scored without the benefit of a home run came in the fifth when Joyce led off with a single and later scored on a Jed Lowrie double that chased Gallardo from the game and cut the deficit to 6-3.

Notes

* Both bullpens were excellent as Seattle relievers allowed a single and a walk in 4 2/3 scoreless frames and Simon Castro and Josh Smith combined for three innings of one-walk ball for Oakland. After Cruz's second home run in the fifth, Oakland pitching retired 14 of the last 15 batters it faced.

* On the flip side, the four starting pitchers in the brief series between division rivals struggled. The quartet combined to allow 26 hits, 18 earned runs and seven home runs in 20 2/3 innings (7.84 ERA).