Seattle @ Minnesota preview

Last Meeting ( May 29, 2016 ) Minnesota 5, Seattle 4

The Seattle Mariners most likely have to win their final 10 games to reach the postseason, but the schedule in front of them is favorable - with seven of those contests against two of the four worst teams in the American League. The Mariners begin their quest on Friday, when they visit the major league-worst Minnesota Twins for the opener of their three-game series.

Seattle (80-72), which also ends the season with four at home against Oakland (66-86) - with a trip to Houston in between, is two games back with three teams over which to hop in order to get the wild-card berth. “It’s baseball. Anything can happen,” Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano told reporters. “We can win the next eight to 10 games. We just have to keep fighting.” It would help if Seattle sluggers Cano, Kyle Seager and Nelson Cruz could get hot down the stretch, but the trio went 3-for-32 in the most recent series against Toronto. The Twins have dropped six in a row overall, including both ends of a doubleheader against Detroit on Thursday, but took all three games at Seattle in late May.

TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, ROOT (Seattle), FSN North (Minnesota)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Mariners LH James Paxton (4-7, 3.88 ERA) vs. Twins RH Kyle Gibson (6-10, 5.10)

Paxton pitched five perfect innings and finished having allowed just two runs over seven frames while striking out seven last time out before suffering a 2-1 loss to Houston. The 27-year-old Canadian is winless in his last five starts overall but has permitted three or fewer runs in seven of his last nine outings. Eduardo Escobar is 1-for-2 with a homer versus Paxton, who has been taken deep just eight times in 18 starts.

Gibson is just 1-3 in his last six starts but has been better in the past two, yielding four runs over 13 total innings. The 28-year-old Missouri product has struggled at home, going 1-7 with a 5.32 ERA and a .312 opponents' batting average in 12 starts. Adam Lind and Seth Smith are both 2-for-6 with a homer versus Gibson, who is 2-1 with a 2.81 ERA in five career starts against the Mariners.

WALK-OFFS

1. Minnesota 2B Brian Dozier saw his 24-game hitting streak end Thursday but has belted 42 homers, putting him one behind Baltimore’s Mark Trumbo for the major-league lead.

2. Seattle backup C Jesus Sucre is 8-for-11 with three RBIs in the last three games in which he played.

3. The Twins have hit 190 homers this season, the most for the club since they belted 191 in 2004.

PREDICTION: Mariners 5, Twins 3