, Minnesota sent 13 batters to the plate in the fourth.Cron, who went 4 for 5 a day after an embarrassing error turned into a popular lowlight online, made it 4-1 with a mammoth two-run homer deep into the second deck in left field. Marwin Gonzalez followed with a single and Miguel Sano's double put runners at second and third.Castro then grounded to first baseman Edwin Encarnacion behind the bag. Instead of stepping on the base, Encarnacion made a quick, flat-footed throw home trying to get Gonzalez, but was off the mark and the error made it 5-1.Buxton followed with a three-run homer to left for an 8-1 margin, ending Swanson's night after he gave up nine hits in three-plus innings.Parker Markel hit Kepler with a pitch, then gave up a single to Jorge Polanco before the Mariners finally got the first out of the inning by nabbing Polanco as he tried to turn a poor relay throw from the outfield into another base.Markel struck out Jonathan Schoop for the second out and should have been out of the inning when Cron hit a soft fly to center field. But Mallex Smith, recalled Thursday from Triple-A Tacoma, dropped the ball for Seattle's league-leading 49th error and Kepler added another run to make it 9-1.Pineda (3-3) didn't need any additional help in his return to Seattle. Though he was hit hard at times, the former Mariners right-hander struck out six with no walks over seven innings. He scattered five hits, gave up three runs and largely kept the Mariners handcuffed to end their modest two-game win streak.All of Seattle's runs came on homers. Smith hit a solo shot in the second, and Ryon Healy and J. P. Crawford connected for back-to-back solo drives in the fifth. It was the first home run with the Mariners for Crawford, one of the team's top prospects.Daniel Vogelbach added a three-run homer in the eighth off reliever Tyler Duffey. The Mariners have scored 131 of their 246 runs, 53%, on their league-leading 87 home runs.CRUZ RETURNSFor the first time since signing with Minnesota, slugger Nelson Cruz made his return to T-Mobile Park to the delight of the Mariners, who miss the presence of their ebullient former teammate. Cruz did not play because of a recent wrist injury, but is expected in the lineup for the remaining three games of the series, with left-handed pitchers scheduled for Seattle. ''I hope he's not in our nap room,'' Mariners manager Scott Servais joked. ''I might have to stop in there. He might be in there for all we know.'' Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said he sees why Cruz was such a favorite in Seattle: ''He gets the clubhouse in a lot of ways to come together very, very well. It takes a special guy to do that.'' DOH!Cron has a great sense of humor, and it takes one to go through what he's experiencing. Many fans saw Cron on all the highlights Wednesday after looking the wrong way on a comebacker while playing first base in an 8-7 win over the Angels. He was looking toward second base, where Jonathan Schoop was mimicking fielding the ball even though it went to pitcher Jake Odorizzi, who tossed it past an unaware Cron into foul territory. ''I'm sure people are going to keep making fun of me for the rest of my days,'' Cron told reporters as teammates shouted ''brutal'' and ''what an idiot'' while walking past. Baldelli said he has ''been in baseball a very long time and I've never seen anything like that in my entire life. I would anticipate in 20 more years, I'm guessing I'd never see that again.'' UP NEXTTwins: LHP Martin Perez (5-1, 3.11 ERA) returns to the mound after his first loss of the season following five consecutive wins.Mariners: LHP Marco Gonzales (5-2, 3.18 ERA) looks to halt a two-game skid.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Sano expected back as Twins open series at Seattle When the Minnesota Twins open a seven-game trip Thursday night in Seattle, they will have a familiar face back in the lineup.Third baseman Miguel Sano was activated from the 10-day injured list Wednesday, and he likely will make his season debut against the Mariners."Physically, I feel really good," Sano said. "My whole body, mentally and physically. It's a beautiful year for us; the team is winning a lot. I'm here to play and help the team too." Sano has missed the first 42 games for the American League Central-leading Twins after sustaining a deep laceration on his heel Jan. 26 during a celebration of his Dominican team's winter league championship when he slipped on some metal stairs.The 26-year-old, who batted just .199 in 71 games last season while spending months in the minors to work on his conditioning, got in 10 rehabilitation games over the past two weeks before being activated. He batted .316 with two home runs and nine RBIs for three teams in the Twins' farm system.Sano didn't play Wednesday in the Twins' 8-7 victory against the Los Angeles Angels as he arrived at the ballpark in Minneapolis just an hour before game time."He's probably just clamoring to get out there and play. It's time," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "He's put in the work. ... He's dealt with about as difficult of a situation he could probably deal with based on everything last year and this year. I'm extremely excited to see him step on the field and be ready to go, and I think he's even more excited than I am." Sano appears to be in much better shape than last season."I worked really hard in the offseason," Sano said, according to MLB.com. "Last year, I didn't work too much because I had problems with my tibia. I tried to come here to play the game, and I didn't feel really good physically. This is a different year, and I hope everything is good for my family, for me and my team." Baldelli, in his first season as the Twins' manager, is looking forward to penciling the slugger into the lineup."There are guys in the staff that have been waiting very patiently to see this guy out on the field," Baldelli said. "I've seen him play as a young player, so I'm familiar with him as a player. He's an ultra-talented person. He can do things that you can look around baseball, and it's a very unique talent that other people can't do. That makes it fun to watch Miguel Sano play." There's a good chance the left-handed hitting Sano will be in the lineup Thursday against Mariners rookie right-hander Erik Swanson (1-4, 6.35 ERA), who will face the Twins for the first time.The Twins are set to send right-hander Michael Pineda (2-3, 5.85 ERA) to the mound. Pineda is 1-1 with a 5.71 ERA in three career starts against Seattle, the team he started his career with.The Mariners, who have dropped below .500 after their 13-2 start, had Wednesday off after sweeping a two-game series at home against Oakland."We went through a little skid there where we didn't swing the bats as good as we wanted," designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach, who homered in both games against the A's, told MLB.com. "But it's not like they went anywhere. Guys in the lineup can all hit. It's baseball. You go through ups and downs. I think things have kind of started to turn for the better." --Field Level Media
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