SEATTLE -- Seth Smith powered Seattle past Houston and put the Mariners closer in the wild card chase.He hit a pair of home runs and drove in four runs on Sunday to help the Mariners beat the Houston Astros 7-3. His effort backed up a strong performance by lefty Ariel Miranda as the Mariners remained in the thick of the congested wild-card race.The Mariners (79-70) are one game behind Toronto, which holds the second wild-card spot.Smith had a solo shot in the third and a three-run shot in the fourth, both on 3-1 pitches from Doug Fister (12-12). Smith had been 0-for-10 in his career against Fister but the eight-year veteran had a plan.Guys know what theyre doing when they are pitching and able to pitch to the corners, Smith said. You try to take the close ones, try to get into a good hitters count when they come after you.Smith, who now has 16 home runs on the season -- one short of his career high -- was patient enough to work both into hitters counts then connected on fastballs into the right-field seats.Youre constantly learning, how to approach at-bats, knowing what kind of swing you have going into a game, knowing what the pitcher is trying to do to you, Smith said. Over the course of a career you kind of fit the pieces a little better together.Fister said, I was just trying to attack with my sinker; he put a couple good swings on balls -- clearly.I just didnt execute today, thats what it comes down to. Balls down, balls up, all over the place. I let my team down.Miranda (5-1), acquired in a trade with Baltimore on July 31 for lefty Wade Miley, went seven innings -- his longest outing in 10 starts with Seattle -- allowing two runs on three hits. He walked one and struck out eight.Heck of an outing, Mariners manager Scott Servais said. Hes on a heck of a roll. We certainly needed it. Hes gained so much confidence. You can certainly can see it.Miranda has won all four of his starts in September. The Cuban defector said, through an interpreter, its been a dream of mine (to be in a playoff chase) but never been there. Its really great to get there. Im happy with the work Ive been doing and happy to help the team.Houston manager A.J. Hinch said Miranda has a good fastball and a good split-change thing that he throws. Our guys hadnt seen a ton of him. ..He did a good job challenging us, but just above the zone and we swung under today and hit a lot of pop-ups in the infield, a few balls to the outfield. A couple balls to the track that could have changed the game a little bit. He kept enticing us with fastballs.The Mariners have won nine of their last 11 games.RECORD WHIFFSWith Jandel Gustaves strikeout of Shawn OMalley in the sixth, the Astros staff established a club record for strikeouts with 1,283. Theyve done it without even a 200-strikeout pitcher. For the most part we have a few guys who can spin their breaking balls when they need to, manager A.J. Hinch said. and the changeup is a big component of our pitching staff.SLOW START; FAST FINISHNori Aoki, who was sent to the minors twice this season to work on his offense, has found his batting eye this month. Entering the game, he was hitting .387 in September, fifth best in the American League. He had been hitting .255 overall to start the month. For his career, he is a .324 hitting in September, fourth best among active players. He had two hits Sunday.TRAINERS ROOMMariners: 1B Adam Lind had not played since Sept. 12 with a sprained finger in his right hand but was back in the lineup Sunday, missing five games.UP NEXTAstros: RHP Brad Peacock (0-0, 2.70) will make his third start, seventh appearance, in his effort to win his first game since 2014. Last time ou, Sept. 13, he was solid, going six innings and allowing just three hits and one run in a 3-2 loss to Texas. Now the Astros are counting on him to step up at the most critical stage of the season. He is 1-4 with a 4.97 ERA in nine career appearances against Oakland.Mariners: RHP Taijuan Walker (6-10, 4.28) is coming off his best starting effort of his career (59 starts). He allowed just three hits and no runs -- first career shutout -- in an 8-0 win over the L.A. Angels. He had a no-hitter through 5 2/3 innings. He is 0-2 with a 3.66 ERA in three career starts against the Blue Jays but has not faced them this season. Wholesale Marlins Jerseys . LOUIS -- Cardinals cleanup hitter Allen Craig says hes recovered from a foot injury and ready to be put on St. Cheap Marlins Jerseys . Instead of dwelling on the negative, Oates focused on what was good about the clubs recent play. It worked. http://www.cheapmarlinsjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-andre-dawson-jersey . Soukalova missed only one target and completed the 15-kilometre course in 40 minutes, 32.6 seconds for both victories in this seasons individual discipline. Darya Domracheva of Belarus was second, 34. Cheap MLB Jerseys Authentic . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April. Cheap Marlins Jerseys China . The team said Saturday that Lopez was hurt during its 121-120 overtime loss at Philadelphia on Friday. The Nets said they would issue another update next week after consultation with their doctors. FULLERTON, Calif. -- Justin Robinson had 22 points and eight assists, Ahmed Hill added 18 points and Virginia Tech defeated New Mexico 92-72 in the first round of the Wooden Legacy on Thursday.Chris Clarke had eight points, nine rebounds and four assists as the Hokies (4-0) capitalized on timely three-point shooting, an edge on the glass and good ball movement.Our chemistry on and off the court is crazy, Robinson said. We really dont care who is scoring, who is doing anything. We just want to win.Tim Williams had 19 points and 11 rebounds and Elijah Brown scored 16 points for the Lobos (3-1), who fell to 6-17 all-time against ACC teams.Virginia Tech scored nine unanswered points in a 1:30 stretch late in the first half to create separation, starting the run with Zach LeDays three-pointer to break a 23-23 tie. LeDay finished with 16 points.In the second half, Virginia Tech pulled away behind the hot shooting of Hill and Justin Bibbs. Bibbs and Hill combined to score 21 points on 8 of 12 shooting, including 5 of 8 from 3-point range, while the Hokies shot 59.3 percent from the field after the break.TURNING POINTVirginia Tech moved the ball to start the second half and never stopped, finishing with 12 assists on 16 field goals. Williams said the willingness to make the extra pass was a testament to the selflessness of his team.If you dont have the right character guys who are wanting to play for one another, then at some point the ball is going to get stuck, and I dont think the ball gets stuck very often with our group, Hokies coach Buzz Williams said.HE SAID ITVirginia Tech finished with 20 assists against eight turnovers, but Williams thought the latter total should have been even lower.And two of those turnovers were Zach out there dancing with the ball, and the whole organization told him to quit doing the shimmy-shake, so it should have been 20 and 6, Williams said.FRESHMAN STANDOUTKhadim Sy had a team-high 10 rebounds in just 16 minutes for Virginia Tech, offering a much-needed presence on the glass for the four-guard offense.dddddddddddd Williams sees the 6-foot-10 Sy as one of the teams most important pieces, so the rest of the team doesnt feel like they are alone in the fight, coach Williams said.HE SAID IT, PART TWOAfter a strong start by Tim Williams, Virginia Tech was able to collapse its defense and deny him entry passes. New Mexico coach Craig Neal said the Lobos must find compliments to Tim Williams, Brown and Jordan Hunter, who had 10 points.I think we had two guys on the floor that they didnt really guard, and we got to look at that, Neal said.BIG PICTUREVirginia Tech: The Hokies are ready for their non-conference tests. After starting the season against three pushovers, Virginia Tech looked sharp against its first opponent really capable of mounting a challenge to kick off an arduous four-game stretch that includes a road trip to Michigan as part of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.New Mexico: The Lobos must manufacture more touches for Tim Williams. After earning Mountain West player of the week honors for trouncing Houston Baptist and New Mexico State, the senior turned in another strong performance by making 8 of 13 shots. However, there were too many possessions where Tim Williams was a spectator despite having the hot hand. If New Mexico is going to do damage in conference, he has to be more central to the offense.UP NEXTVirginia Tech will face Texas A&M on Friday in the winners half of the bracket, though the size and length of the Aggies could present serious issues to a perimeter-oriented team.New Mexico plays Cal State Northridge on Friday on the other side of the draw. Provided the Lobos keep Micheal Warren in check after he broke out for 19 points against Texas A&M, they should respond quite well. Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Camo Cheap Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys Online Stitched Jerseys China Womens NFL Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys ' ' '