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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. Baltimore Ravens Jerseys . Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services. Jaylon Ferguson Youth Jersey . Despite the cost, effort and an improved steroid test, its possible that very few -- if any -- positives will be detected, Dr. Richard Budgett told The Associated Press in an interview. "We just dont know what the results from Torino will be," Budgett said. http://www.ravensrookiestore.com/Ravens-Iman-Marshall-Jersey/ . Aduriz headed home Markel Susaetas cross in the sixth minute to open the scoring at San Mames Stadium. He bettered that with a long-range blast that went in off the goal frame in the 18th, and converted a penalty in the 72nd after Diego Mainz was sent off for fouling Aduriz with only the goalkeeper to beat. Miles Boykin Ravens Jersey . The Dutchmans tenure got off to a poor start when referee Guido Winkmann awarded a penalty within two minutes for Niklas Starks clumsy challenge on Alexandru Maxim. Hayden Hurst Ravens Jersey . You can watch the game live on TSN at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. The Flyers had won seven of eight before dropping their last two outings on consecutive days over the weekend. Philadelphia was handed a 6-3 loss by the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday afternoon before dropping a 4-1 decision to the Rangers the following night in New York City. Tom May played for Toulon from 2009 to 2011 -- here he gives the rundown on what is in store for Chris Ashton at the three-time European champions.?So what waits for Chris Ashton at Toulon? There will be early difficulties but plenty of thrills.He divides opinion. Some say he should have stayed at Saracens and some see exactly why hes moving on to Toulon. Im in the latter party.The spotlight is very different from the one he experiences now. For different reasons, it was the same with Jonny Wilkinson when he left Newcastle. Its a relentless glare and sometimes it can be hard to live under.Whatever the reason, he cant get away from it and its tiring for players. He will be largely left alone in France. He will merge into the melting pot of galacticos that Toulon have and be able to get on with life -- probably what he needs after the last couple of years. He will be able to breathe again and just be.It will be a difficult move for him. Taking a young family to France will be tough. Simple things we take for granted when moving house takes forever to get sorted -- internet, phone lines, TV etc. -- and it can be excruciatingly frustrating to get your life in order.My advice is just go with it even if it does bring you to tears at first. It takes ages to get most things done in France -- even drinking an espresso -- and no matter how hard you try, you wont change it. If you buy into the way of life though, hell love it as much as I did. But fight it and hell be on the plane home from Nice sooner rather than later.Learning any language is hard and getting started sooner rather than later is advisable for Chris. Mike Ford and Paul Stridgeon will offer familiar faces and mean the Wigan accent isnt lost on the other players at the club and it will be some comfort to a new arrival. It will almost be a home away from home.He will need to make an effort, that will be expected. The French dont take it lightly should you not make an effort to speak their language and rightly so. Its embarrassing whhen an Englishman expects everyone else to communicate in their tongue.dddddddddddd Have a crack, everyone makes some howling errors which get some weird looks but thats what its about.Match day will be a completely different experience for him. Saracens are doing a good job at generating a growing crowd but Allianz Park is nothing compared to the sensational Stade Mayol.The stadium is packed to the rafters with Toulonnais fans, tossing the local newspaper in the air week in week out. Its something he will love as a player, perhaps similar to the experience he would have had in the Super League. No doubt Ashton will be loved by the fans there but more importantly for me, he will love them and what they give to the whole experience.Another piece of advice is: dont forget the handshakes. Every day, on arrival at work, the players go round and shake everyones hand. Its a superb way to show respect to those you see each day. You dont forget anyone, thats rude. Should you start speaking to them without having shaken hands and said hello, well look out! Even worse dont forget that you have already shaken someones hand. Youve had a shocker if you do. I only did it once and I didnt do it again as it got a brutal response. It really didnt go down very well.Overall, its a great move, I dont blame him. Clearly the money will have something to do with it and who would turn down the offer like that if it came along. If a big contract offer arrives at the age of 30 youve got to think about taking the opportunity, it might not come round again. The same happened to me. Perhaps not as many sacks of cash -- no perhaps about it! - but its something you cant turn down.When you combine all of that with the truly memorable three years ahead of him, then he will be a happy man. He better make sure he doesnt forget his Factor 50 though, that pale skin in the Mediterranean sun.... ' ' '