MINNEAPOLIS -- James Paxton was cruising along for the Seattle Mariners, as hes done often this season. Then Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz and the middle of the Seattle Mariners batting order order broke out.Cano had four hits and two RBI, Cruz added a two-run homer among his four RBI and the Mariners beat the Minnesota Twins 10-1 on Friday night to stay on pace in the AL wild-card race.Nice to see the middle of our lineup come together, Seattle manager Scott Servais said. We havent had a game like that in a while. ... Those guys are huge in the middle. Theyve carried us all year. Nice to see them get going again.Seattle trailed Detroit by two games for the second wild card but passed Houston.Paxton (5-7) struck out nine and allowed one run on five hits. Seattle, which scored six runs in the seventh inning, entered Friday averaging just 2.88 runs per game while Paxton was on the mound.Feels good, Paxton said of pitching well while in the playoff race. This is what we need. We need to win right now. Guys are playing hard and were doing our best to stay right there, and try to climb up in the wild-card standings.Kyle Gibson (6-10) gave up two runs, five hits and four walks for Minnesota, which lost its seventh straight and fell to 99 losses, its most since 2011.Its tough to be too satisfied with a game where you only went five innings, threw a hundred pitches and your team loses 10-1, Gibson said. I think theres some positives but its hard to focus on those at that time.With a biting curveball at his disposal, Paxton allowed just three hits, two on infield singles, before waiting through the long top of the seventh. The only blemish on his night was Miguel Sano leading off the seventh with a triple off the wall in right field and scoring on Kennys Vargas single.He was in total control, Servais said. It was great to see. Fun watching him go like that because he gets on those rolls and the release points very consistent.Seattle supplied Paxton with the most run support hes received in a start this season.Cano and Mike Zunino had RBI bloop singles in the third and fourth before a big inning against three relievers.Cano drove in a run with an infield single. Cruz followed with a two-run double, Kyle Seager had an RBI double and Zuninos single led to two runs when left fielder Robbie Grossman committed two errors. Grossman let the ball bounce off his glove and then kicked the ball as he went to retrieve it.Byron Buxton made a leaping catch at the wall to rob Cruz of at least extra bases in the third, but Cruz hit his 38th homer in the eighth, a drive off the stone facing above the batters eye in center field. MLBs Statcast said the ball would have traveled 454 feet had it landed unimpeded.Seattle had scored two runs or fewer in six of its previous seven games.The start was delayed by 35 minutes due to rain, marking the 14th delay or postponement in Minnesota this season.HOLLANDERSeattle announced Friday that Justin Hollander has been hired as the teams director of baseball operations.Hollander, 37, was the Los Angeles Angels director of player personnel. He was hired by Los Angeles in 2008, serving multiple roles, where he worked under Seattle general manager Jerry Dipoto.Hollander steps into the role left behind by Caleb Peiffer, who left the team to attend law school.TRAINERS ROOMTwins: RF Max Kepler was out of the lineup but was cleared to play after leaving Thursdays doubleheader with a mild neck strain from hitting the wall awkwardly. . 1B Joe Mauer was out of the lineup for the third straight game as he deals with sore quadriceps. He hasnt started since Sept. 17.UP NEXTSeattle LHP Ariel Miranda (5-1, 3.88 ERA) hopes to keep his surprising run going on Saturday. Minnesota will send RHP Tyler Duffey (8-11, 6.39) to the mound. Miranda has gone 4-0 with a 2.16 ERA in his last four starts with 20 strikeouts in 25 innings. Duffey has allowed at least five earned runs in three of his last four outings. Adidas NMD R1 Japan Black . Westbrook has missed 27 games since having a procedure on Dec. 27 to deal with swelling in his injured right knee — the third operation on the knee in nine months. Adidas NMD R2 Sale . They reached the 100-point plateau for the fourth time in five games, bested the visiting Trail Blazers by 34 in the paint and scored 19 of the final 25 points in regulation. http://www.cheapnmdonline.com/ . PETERSBURG, Fla. Cheap Fake NMD . Argentina winger Ezequiel Lavezzi and France midfielder Blaise Matuidi scored, with star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic setting up both despite having a poor game by his high standards. Forward Eduardo gave Ajaccio the lead in the sixth minute after being set up by right winger Benjamin Andre, and the Corsican side looked comfortable in the first half, with the lively Johan Cavalli causing problems with his probing runs from midfield. Fake NMD Human Race For Sale . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human.Joe Mellor says Super League leaders Widnes will be out to make a statement on Thursday as they seek a first away win over Wigan for 11 years. The 25-year-old Mellor has been in sensational form along with his half-back partner Kevin Brown as the Vikings have equalled their best ever start to a Super League campaign.In the bottom four at the end of 2015 and tipped for another battle against relegation, the Vikings have silenced their critics by winning five of their opening six matches and boast the best attack in Super League as well as the leading try-scorer in Corey Thompson. But Mellor knows they face an acid test of their title aspirations against the Warriors, who are one of only two clubs with 100 per cent records so far this year and, fresh from a demolition of defending champions Leeds, have the chance to take over top spot.I think a lot of people are surprised because of the way we performed last year and where we ended up in the league, but we had a really good pre-season and obviously took that into the season, said Mellor.Nobody is getting carried away because we know it could change, were just looking to turn up each week and perform the best we can. Barrie McDermott says hes been impressed with the Vikings performances this season Warrington-born Mellor, one of 16 Wigan academy products in the two squads for Thursdays game at the DW Stadium, is playing the best rugby of his career since joining Widnes.He made two Super League appearances for the Warriors in 2012 before being sidelined for nine months with a knee injury and went on to rebuild his career under Denis Betts, another former Wigan player.Im not bitter about anything, he said. Wigan have got a really good youth set-up and I enjoyed my time there and learned a lot.Denis gave me my opportunity and [Stefan] Marsh went on dual [registration] to Widnes as well the year before me. Widnes were emphatic 46-6 victors over Hull FC last Thursday Its a good pathway for us to get some game time but now I think well be able to attract some really good players to Widnes. Were up there and competing with the likes of Wigan these days.We do really want to go out and make a statement this week. I think last week was our biggest test of the season against Hull FC and this is going to be massive.While the Vikings are averaging 35 points a game, Wigan have the meanest defence having leaked just 66 points in five games.They are unbeaten against Super League opposition at the DW Stadium since June 2014 - not that coach Shaun Wane is taking his sides imppressive home record for granted.dddddddddddd Stefan Marsh, Corey Thompson, Denis Betts and Joe Mellor look ahead to Thursdays trip to Wigan Every club that comes to the DW poses a threat to it, Wane said. I dont get carried away with the fortress comments.We need to turn up mentally and be ready to defend our line like our life depends on it. We did that last week. Unfortunately we couldnt see the game out by nilling Leeds [winning 28-6] but well have to have the same attitude against Widnes. Wigan ran out 28-6 winners in their Grand Final rematch with Leeds Theyre playing really well. Theyre scoring some points and really attacking teams.They have an advantage with their home pitch but theyre also playing well away. The attacking shapes theyre showing with Joe Mellor, Kev Brown and Rhys Hanbury out the back are outstanding.Theyve done things to Leeds and Hull that we couldnt do. We beat them both but they werent convincing wins and Widnes have absolutely pumped both teams [56-12 and 46-6 respectively]. Wigan will give a late fitness test to George Williams Widnes are set to switch Chris Dean from the second row to centre to plug the gap caused by the loss of Chris Bridge with a neck injury, while Setaimata Sa and Gil Dudson are both pushing for recalls.Wigan will give late fitness tests to stand-off George Williams, who pulled out of last weeks win over Leeds with a back problem, and second rower Liam Farrell, who is nursing a shoulder injury.Second rower Nick Gregson keeps his place in the squad after making his debut against the Rhinos and Wane may give a debut to prop Joe Bretherton if Farrell is ruled out.Wigan Warriors: John Bateman, Joe Bretherton, Gregg Burke, Josh Charnley, Tony Clubb, Liam Farrell, Ben Flower, Anthony Gelling, Oliver Gildart, Nick Gregson, Dom Manfredi, Lee Mossop, Sean OLoughlin, Sam Powell, Dan Sarginson, Matty Smith, Ryan Sutton, Taulima Tautai, George Williams.Widnes Vikings: Kevin Brown, Hep Cahill, Chris Dean, Gil Dudson, Alex Gerrard, Tom Gilmore, Rhys Hanbury, Aaron Heremaia, Chris Houston, Macgraff Leuluai, Manase Manuokafoa, Stefan Marsh, Joe Mellor, Eamon OCarroll, Charly Runciman, Setaimata Sa, Corey Thompson, Lloyd White, Matt Whitley.Watch Wigan v Widnes live on Sky Sports 2 HD on Thursday from 7.30pm. Catch the match for £6.99 on NOW TV. No contract. ' ' '