SEATTLE _ There's something admirable in the nonsensical optimism with which Mike Zunino steps into the batter's box.
The Seattle Mariners catcher endured a hellish 2015, confidence bleeding away as his batting average dropped ever further below .200. Zunino has made positive strides since a lengthy stint with Class AAA Tacoma earlier this year, but he's still managing hits only every fifth at-bat or so.
Yet night after night, game after game, he digs in and takes swings of belief.
His team finds itself adopting a similar stance in the American League wild-card race. Baltimore's consecutive victories in Toronto have left Seattle treading water with little time left.
So it was fitting that it was Zunino who finally broke the deadlock between the M's and A's in the bottom of the seventh, a high-arching solo shot the game-winner in Seattle's 3-2 victory over Oakland on Thursday at Safeco Field.
The Mariners (85-74) now sit two games back of both Baltimore and Toronto in the wild card standings with three games left, an unlikely playoff rather than a near-impossibility had they lost.
Leonys Martin's two-out single in the bottom of the fourth opened the scoring, though he was shortly thereafter caught in a rundown that led to Adam Lind being thrown out at the plate.
Oakland second baseman Chad Pinder answered back in the top of the sixth, his leadoff home run the first of his MLB career. Marcus Semien followed with a sharp single, and Mariners starter Ariel Miranda was pulled.
Miranda was steady, if not quite as flashy as the gold chain that periodically popped out of his navy-blue uniform. The lefty lasted 5 1/3 innings, scattering four hits and allowing just that one run, striking out six without walking a batter.
The M's squandered a chance to regain the lead in the bottom of the sixth. Nelson Cano legged out an infield single _ he'd earlier flashed his speed by stealing second in the second _ and Lind worked a walk. Two on, two out, Martin lined out sharply to right.
A pair of Mariners shared credit for Oakland's wasting of Danny Valencia's leadoff single in the seventh. First, shortstop Ketel Marte made a fantastic diving stop deep in the hole, throwing across his body to get the lead runner at second. Steve Cishek later trotted out of the bullpen with runners on the corners and one out, getting Max Muncy to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the threat.
Cishek tossed another solid inning of relief in the top of the eighth before Marte pitched in an insurance run with a two-out single in the bottom half. Closer Edwin Diaz followed with a tense ninth when Oakland scored once on Bruce Maxwell's run-scoring single and left two runners on base.
Belief may be running thin, but the Mariners aren't quite out of it yet.
