The Seattle Mariners used a power display to help out their young starter -- and improve their playoff chances.

HOUSTON -- The Seattle Mariners used a power display to help out their young starter -- and improve their playoff chances. Jose Barea Jersey . Dustin Ackley hit two solo homers, and Mike Zunino and Kyle Seager each hit three-run shots in a seven-run fourth inning as Mariners cruised to a 10-5 win over the Houston Astros on Friday night. Ackley homered in the third and eighth innings for his second career multihomer game for the Mariners, who moved a 1/2 game back for the second AL wild card with the victory and Royals loss to Detroit. "I felt good today," said Ackley, who has a career-high 13 homers this season. "I dont know what it was, going into the game. Sometimes you come to a park and its just one of those places where you get a good feeling about it and thats pretty much the way it was." Twenty-one-year-old rookie Taijuan Walker (2-2) yielded eight hits and two runs with seven strikeouts in 5 2-3 innings for his third career win in his return to the rotation for injured left-hander Roenis Elias. It was his first start since July 23. "I think eight runs helped him quite a bit," manager Lloyd McClendon said. "But he knows that club. He knows what theyre capable of doing. More than anything he executed pitches very well tonight. I cant tell you how pleased I was with his execution and his command of the strike zone." Four of Walkers seven career starts have come against the Astros and each of his wins have been in Houston. "Its kind of like my home park, I guess," he said with a laugh. "Home-field advantage." The game was tied at 1 before things fell apart for the Astros in the fourth inning. Logan Morrison reached on an error by Jonathan Villar and an error by Chris Carter allowed Michael Saunders to reach with no outs. Zuninos homer, which bounced off the wall in left-centre, came next to make it 4-1. Brad Peacock (4-9) walked two batters with one out before Robinson Cano chased him with a single for his 900th career RBI. "Those were two routine groundballs, and they turned into a three-run homer," interim manager Tom Lawless said of the errors. "You make those plays, and theres nobody on and two outs. Thats the importance of playing defence." Peacock was replaced by Jake Buchanan, who was greeted with Seagers three-run homer which landed in the bullpen in right-centre and pushed the lead to 8-1. Major league hits leader Jose Altuve bounced back from Thursdays 0 for 6 night with three hits to give him 216, which are the most by a second basemen since Rod Carew had 218 in 1974. Its his 24th three-hit game this season, which sets a franchise record, and he tied Magglio Ordonez for most hits by a Venezuelan player in major league history. "I was 0 for 6 last night and I knew I wasnt going to go 0 for 6 again," Altuve said. "I tried to go up there, swing the bat. I saw like three pitches, three or four. I was ready to swing." Peacock allowed six hits and seven runs -- two earned -- with four walks in 3 1-3 innings in a game where seven of Seattles 10 runs were unearned. Ackley tied it at 1 with a home run in the third inning. His second homer was off Darin Downs and pushed the lead to 9-3 in the eighth. TRAINERS ROOM Mariners: Elias had an MRI in Seattle on Friday after feeling stiffness in his elbow. Manager Lloyd McClendon said that they wont know the results of the MRI until Monday. Astros: Downs left Friday nights game after the homer to Ackley with discomfort in his right oblique. UP NEXT Houstons Dallas Keuchel opposes Chris Young when the series continues on Saturday. Keuchel is first in the American League with five complete games. Young has tied his career-high in wins with 12 this season and is 1-0 with a 3.21 ERA in two starts against Houston this season. Jose Juan Barea Jersey .com) - Maria Sharapova reached her 10th career grand slam final after beating Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets at the Australian Open on Thursday. Wesley Matthews Jersey . - Zac Leslie scored two goals and assisted on two more, and Justin Nichols made 34 saves as the Guelph Storm blanked the Kitchener Rangers 6-0 in Ontario Hockey League action on Sunday. http://www.nbamavericksauthority.com/steve-nash-mavericks-jersey-c-12/ . Cincinnati has lost back-to-back games in overtime, wasting a chance to take a commanding lead in their division.(Sports Network) - The American League wild card race is heating up and the Baltimore Orioles are right in the mix. The New York Yankees are not far off either and will try to move closer to one of two wild card spots Tuesday in the second portion of a four-game series at Camden Yards. Baltimore took the opener of this series, 4-2, on Monday and used a strong outing from Chris Tillman. Tillman held the Yankees to two runs and four hits in seven innings, striking out nine batters and walking none. Tillman aided the Orioles in their fourth win in five tries and the club is tied with Cleveland at 1 1/2 games behind in the wild card race. "Its big, this time of year its real big," said Tillman on the importance of these games down the stretch. "Every game I pitch is big. I only get to go out there every fifth day, so for me theyre all big." Jim Johnson picked up his 43rd save in the ninth and Nick Markakis led the Orioles offensively with three hits, an RBI and a run scored. Things got a bit heated between Orioles manager Buck Showalter and Yankees skipper Joe Girardi after the first inning, when the Orioles were accused of sign stealing. Girardi complained to Orioles third-base coach Bobby Dickerson and Showalter took offense, shouting at New Yorks manager near home plate while being restrained by the umpires. "The one thing that Ive done, the whole time that Im here, and everywhere Ive been, is Im going to protect our players at all lengths," Girardi said. "Thats what Im going to do, and there was something that II saw, and Im just going to leave it at that. Dennis Smith Jr. Jersey. quot; Much to the chagrin of Girardi, his club lost for the fourth time in five tries and now sits three games off the pace for a wild card spot. CC Sabathias success against Baltimore didnt come through, as he allowed four runs, three earned, and seven hits in 7 1/3 innings. "We didnt score runs. If we had been scoring runs like weve been the last week he gets a win tonight," Girardi said. The Yankees, who got home runs from Alex Rodriguez and Lyle Overbay, averaged seven runs per game over a seven-game span entering this series. They opened a 10-game road trip Monday and will also visit Boston and Toronto. Ivan Nova will start for the Yankees Tuesday and he is 8-4 with a 3.02 earned run average in 19 games (16 starts). Nova has won his last four decisions and has faced the Orioles 11 times (10 starts) in his career, going 5-2 with a 4.33 ERA. The right-handed Nova recently tossed a three-hit shutout in a 2-0 win against Baltimore on Aug. 31. Countering for the Orioles in the second matchup with New York will be Miguel Gonzalez, who is 9-7 with a 3.98 ERA in 26 games (24 starts). Gonzalez was 0-4 in his previous eight appearances until tossing seven innings of one-run ball in a 3-1 win over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday. Gonzalez faced the Yankees on Aug. 30 in an 8-5 setback and was reached for seven runs across four innings. The righty is 2-2 with a 3.93 ERA in six career starts against the Yanks. The Orioles are 9-7 against the Yankees this season. 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