Mariners notebook: Nelson Cruz, Adam Lind heating up

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Day game after night game. You know the drill by now. Here are some quick notes and the lineup:

The Mariners have a great opportunity to finish what I think we can safely call a good road trip with a win over the Angels. The Mariners are 6-3 since their five-game losing streak and have won three straight series on the road. We have seen plenty of good on this trip with the pitching staff putting up a 2.79 ERA in the eight games played, cleaner defense and a couple of bats coming around. Nelson Cruz has gone 10 for 31 and Adam Lind finally is getting regular playing time turning in an 11-for-25 performance since leaving Seattle.

They look to keep it going today.

Lineup!

Norichika Aoki, LF
Seth Smith, RF
Robinson Cano, 2B
Nelson Cruz, DH
Adam Lind, 1B
Kyle Seager, 3B
Steve Clevenger, C
Leonys Martin, CF
Ketel Marte, SS

Wade Miley, LHP

Notes

• With Felix Hernandez safely owning the Mariners’ career strikeout record, a couple of his teammates are sitting on milestones of their own. Cano is three RBIs away from 1,000. Seager and Smith are two home runs shy of 100.

• Felix going seven innings Saturday helped out a bullpen that had a few arms down. Joaquin Benoit remains a question mark today, but Vidal Nuno – who was unavailable earlier this road trip because of a calf injury – should be good to go.

• The Mariners’ magic number appears to be four. The team is 6-0 when scoring four or more runs and 2-9 when scoring three or fewer.

• Probables for the series against the Astros: Taijuan Walker vs. Doug Fister on Monday, Nathan Karns vs. Dallas Keuchel on Tuesday, Hisashi Iwakuma vs. Collin McHug on Wednesday.