They combined all three of those traits in a rousing

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The Seattle Mariners have made a habit this year of mounting comebacks , winning by one run and prevailing in extra innings.


Denard Span hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the 11th inning after Kyle Seager delivered a two-run homer in the ninth, and the Mariners pulled out an 8-7 victory Wednesday night.

Playing without injured Nelson Cruz for a second straight game, Seattle got a home run from Ryon Healy and collected 14 hits while improving its record in extra innings to 7-0.

It was the Mariners’ major league-leading 25th one-run victory, and it marked the 16th comeback win in which they have taken the lead in the seventh inning or later.

In this one, Seattle gave up a deflating three-run homer to Chris Davis in the eighth inning before rallying.

”We’ve had some great wins this year. We’ve done a lot of this at home,” manager Scott Servais said. ”To do this on the road, after giving up the big home run in the eighth inning, it’s how we’re wired. We play all 27 outs , guys don’t quit. They figure out and find a way.”

The Mariners came to town having lost six of seven. Now, after winning three straight over the lowly Orioles, they can complete the first four-game road sweep of Baltimore in franchise history.

Seattle has never swept a two-game series in Baltimore, and its last three-game sweep of the Orioles on the road was in 2007.

Cruz has been bothered by a sore lower back, but the Mariners have done just fine without him.

Jean Segura led off the 11th with a double against Mychal Givens (0-5), and Span drove in the go-ahead run with a deep fly to center off Donnie Hart.

Chasen Bradford (5-0) worked the 10th and Edwin Diaz got three outs for his major league-leading 30th save, a club record before the All-Star break. He has earned the save in each game of this series.

”We have stepped up and started playing great baseball,” Diaz said. ”Our defense, hitting and pitching are all doing great. We’re in a good moment right now.”

The Orioles trailed 5-4 in the eighth inning before Davis interrupted his season-long slump with a shot off Alex Colome. The drive , on a 3-1 pitch, soared onto Eutaw Street far beyond the right-field wall.

Davis entered the game with a .147 batting average, and on Friday returned from an eight-game hiatus in which he worked to get his swing back. This was his second home run since coming back, and it produced a rare feel-good moment for a struggling team and its belabored slugger.

Then, in the Seattle ninth, Mitch Haniger singled off Zach Britton and Seager delivered his 15th home run and second in two nights.

Britton, who has pitched in only eight games this season after returning from surgery on a torn Achilles tendon, said, ”I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. I didn’t want it to be like this , but it is what it is and I’ve just got to push through it.”

Much earlier, Seattle made up deficits of 2-0 and 4-2 to take a 5-4 lead in the fifth inning against Alex Cobb.

Baltimore has lost four in a row overall and 14 of 15 at home.

DO THE HUSTLE

Orioles shortstop Manny Machado heard some boos Tuesday night when he trotted to first base after hitting into a 4-6-3 double play.

Manager Buck Showalter promised the matter would be addressed, and he did so on Wednesday.

”He’s better than that,” Showalter said. ”It’s a really bad presentation, and he knows that. The toughest thing about it is that it’s a poor presentation of what he’s really about.”

ALL-STAR ENDORSEMENT

Machado leads AL shortstops in fan voting for the All-Star Game, but Servais believes Jean Segura is playing well enough to be a backup.

”There are a lot of good shortstops out there, but our guy ranks top five in almost every statistical category,” Servais insisted.

Segura is batting .338 with 44 RBIs. He’s got nine errors but has displayed exceptional range.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Mariners: Servais says Cruz ”is moving in the right direction” and could return Thursday.

Orioles: RHP Darren O’Day (hamstring) and OF Craig Gentry (rib fracture) were placed on the 10-day disabled list.

UP NEXT

Mariners: Mike Leake (8-4, 4.11 ERA) gets his 17th start in the series finale.

Orioles: Recalled from Triple-A Norfolk on Wednesday , Jimmy Yacabonis will make his first major league start Thursday in place of injured Dylan Bundy.

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We all know that the most important thing about Fantasy Football is winning. You get to take home the prize money, earn the bragging rights for the year and become the holder of your league trophy, which is yours to do what you please with. This makes your players the most important part of your team, but what this assortment of players need is an identity; a reason to show up big on Sundays (okay, maybe not. These players don’t really care about your team but it’s nice to believe you are a GM every once in a while) and the way to achieve this is through the use of a team name.Some consider this one of the most important decisions that has to be made by a fantasy owner. Every year we scour the internet for the perfect team name. Many among us try to include the name of a player on our squad in our team name and try to make it humorous, clever, or down-right cheesy. This is both a fun and time consuming task, yet it should be considered a serious decision.At the end of the day, if your fellow fantasy owners have a good laugh or two because of your team name , I’d consider that a job well done… just make sure not to try too hard. Well, here comes the good news, I have compiled a list of the Top 25 Fantasy team names for 2014, which include puns and player names using only the players I expect to be drafted in the majority of fantasy leagues. Have fun with it and may the fantasy gods smile upon you in the 2014 season.

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