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Mariners return to Safeco Field on Friday night to face the Kansas City Royals in the opener of a nine-game homestand.

The Mariners have gone a surprising 29-14, taking hold of the American League’s second wild card without eight-time All-Star second baseman Robinson Cano, who was suspended 80 games by Major League Baseball in mid-May for using performance-enhancing drugs.

On that day, Mariners manager Scott Servais brought together his team and delivered a simple message.

“He just said, ‘We’re a good team. We can still do this,'” left-hander James Paxton told The Washington Post. “Losing Robbie was a blow to the team. But we knew at the time everyone would have to step up to fill the void. No one guy could replace Robinson Cano.”

The results have surprised even Servais.

“Quite frankly, I couldn’t have predicted we’d go on the run we did without having your three-hole http://www.dolphinsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-michael-deiter-jersey , All-Star second baseman,” the manager told The Post.

After 10 straight games against the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, a span in which they went 3-7, the Mariners swept a four-game series at the Baltimore Orioles, who are in last place in the American League East.

Next up are the Royals, the AL Central cellar-dwellers.

“We’re (20) games over .500 — that bad stretch (against the Red Sox and Yankees) didn’t do anything to our confidence,” the Mariners’ Dee Gordon told The Post earlier this week. “It’s just — sometimes you lose. Every team goes through a low stretch. We’ll be fine.”

Seattle designated hitter Nelson Cruz Garrett Bradbury Jersey , the reigning AL Player of the Week, returned to the cleanup spot in the lineup Thursday after missing two games with lower back tightness. He went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs as the Mariners beat the Orioles 4-2 in 10 innings.

Royals right-hander Ian Kennedy (1-7, 5.09 ERA) is scheduled to start the series opener Friday against Mariners left-hander Marco Gonzales (7-5, 4.04).

Kennedy, who is winless in 14 starts since a 1-0 victory on April 7 at Cleveland, has allowed two or fewer runs in nine of his 16 starts this season. He’s 2-2 with a 3.38 ERA in four career starts against the Mariners.

Gonzales is 0-1 with a 12.79 ERA in two career starts against the Royals. He suffered a 10-0 defeat on April 9 at Kansas City, allowing four runs and eight hits in 2 1/3 innings.

The Royals are coming off a 5-4 victory Wednesday at Milwaukee. It was the first time they’ve scored five runs since June 2. They’ll be seeking their first back-to-back wins since May 29-30.

“It’s not frustration http://www.vikingsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-irv-smith-jr.-jersey ,” Royals manager Ned Yost told MLB.com of his team’s month. “Well, that’s a lie. We’re all frustrated. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve never seen an offensive drought like we’ve had all month long. It’s pretty puzzling. There’s no answer for it.”

Kansas City outfielder Jorge Bonifacio was recalled from Triple-A Omaha on Thursday. Bonifacio, who hit .255 with 17 home runs as a rookie last season, had been serving his own 80-game MLB suspension for a failed drug test.

There are 53 players on the active roster for each NFL team when the season starts, so it obviously takes a lot more than one or two stud players to make a team competitive. Some of the league's best players are putting on a show playing for the worst teams in the league. Whether they were top stars coming out of college and were drafted by a bottom feeder of the league or choosing to sign with a bad team for a rich contract, these players don't seem close to sniffing a playoff game, much less the Super Bowl.A lot of times Alexander Mattison Jersey , star players on bad teams don't get the recognition they deserve. When a player is constantly on the losing end of the scoreboard, people tend to associate that player as a loser, even if it's no fault of his own. Football takes a well rounded roster and one player out of 53 simply cannot carry his team to victory.Teams in the NFL can move from last to first quicker than any of the other major sports and a lot of the players on this list are hoping their team can make that leap. It must be really frustrating for these players to look around their locker room and realize their playing with a bunch of scrubs, but I'm sure the paycheck makes up for that. The players on this list all play for teams that had less than five wins last season and hope to help their teams climb up the rankings this year.