Nelson Cruz takes deserved bow after hitting homer No. 300 and helping the Mariners top the A's

It snapped the Mariners’ eight-game losing streak at home. It was just their third win in the last 12 games, a slide that had shrunk the gap between the Mariners and the last-place A’s. And James Paxton, the Mariners’ emerging ace, allowed just two runs — and two hits — in seven strong innings.

But it was really Cruz’s night. He and manager Scott Servais were reflective about Cruz’s career.

“That’s special,” Cruz said. “I’ve come a long way. Not only what I did in baseball in the minors but from where I come from in the Dominican. Never in my dreams did I think about hitting 300 homers in the big leagues.”

“I’ve known Nelson for a long time,” Servais said. “There were a lot of people in this game that bet that Nelson Cruz would never hit 300 home runs. He proved a lot of people wrong.”

Cruz has hit 103 of his 300 home runs in his three seasons with the Mariners and, at 37, is one of the team’s respected leaders. It also doesn’t hurt that he is tied for the major-league lead with 68 runs batted in this season.

Read full article here