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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. 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The Lightning are 2-0 so far on a four-game road trip, giving the club five straight wins as the guest and improving Tampas away record this season to 11-8-2. Owners of Cody Allen, Jeremy Jeffress, Jonathan Papelbon and Hector Rondon arent very happy right now.The ever-changing bullpen landscape saw some massive tectonic shifts during the past week. We always expect there to be some churn in the closer role, but it is rare to see so many front-line arms move at the trading deadline.Over the years, the marketplace has adjusted to this volatility by paying less and less for closers at the draft. Back in the late 1990s, the average closer pricee in a standard 5x5 game was over $20.dddddddddddd In 2015, that dropped to an all-time low of $14.79. This years drafters paid even less: $13.63. And it looks like they may have nailed that value.Here is a rundown of how our draft day investments have fared so far (profit, loss or par value). Prices noted are from the Tout Wars AL-only and NL-only leagues: ' ' '