SEATTLE --Seth Smith hit a pair of home runs and drove in four to back up a solid outing by Ariel Miranda and the Seattle Mariners remained in the thick of the congested wild-card race with a 7-3 victory over the Houston Astros on Sunday.
The Mariners (79-70) are tied with Detroit (79-70), which beat Cleveland 9-5. Seattle came into the day trailing Toronto, which holds the second wild card spot, by two games.
Smith had a solo shot in the third and a three-run blast in the fourth, both on 3-1 pitches from Doug Fister (12-12). He now has 16 home runs on the season, one short of his career high.
Miranda (5-1), acquired in a trade with Baltimore on July 31 for LH 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.