Major League Baseball

Cano hits 2 homers, Mariners tighten wild-card race, top A's

Published Oct. 1, 2016 3:52 a.m. ET

foxsports

SEATTLE (AP) Robinson Cano hit two home runs, Taijuan Walker pitched six effective innings and the Seattle Mariners moved within one game of the second AL wild-card spot, beating the Oakland Athletics 5-1 Friday night.

Seattle, which has won seven of nine, is one game behind Toronto for the second spot. The Mariners also trail Detroit by a half-game.

Cano had a two-run homer in the first. He added his 38th home run in the third, a solo shot that gave him 100 RBIs for the season. Norichika Aoki and Nelson Cruz also homered off Raul Alcantara (1-3), who was tagged for five runs on seven hits in two-plus innings.

Walker (8-11) allowed one run on two hits in six innings, but walked five in a 113-pitch outing. The only run came on Ryon Healy's 13th homer to open the sixth. Evan Scribner, Nick Vincent and Steve Cishek each pitched a scoreless inning of relief.