Cano out, but Motter does the job

Taylor Motter replaced an injured Robinson Cano and gave Seattle the lead with a tworun single in the eighth inning, lifting the Mariners over the Atlanta Braves 9-6 on Wednesday night.

Cano had two doubles before leaving in the third inning with tightness in his left hamstring.

Kyle Seager added a three-run homer in the eighth off Dan Winkler.

After blowing a 4-3 lead in the seventh, the Mariners rallied against Jim Johnson (6-3) in the eighth. Motter’s single to centre field drove in Jean Segura, who doubled, and Yonder Alonso, who walked.

David Phelps (4-5) recorded two outs in the seventh after coming off the disabled list. Edwin Diaz recorded the final four outs — including three strikeouts in the ninth — for his 29th save in 33 chances.

Johnson allowed four runs without recording an out. He was booed as he left the game.

Seattle’s Marc Rzepczynski gave up two runs to blow a 4-3 lead in the seventh.

Cano pulled up as he approached second base following his second double in the third inning. He walked off the field, accompanied by a trainer. There was no immediate word on the severity of the injury.

Losing Cano for a significant period of time could be a blow to the post-season hopes for Seattle, which began the day two games out of an AL wild card spot. Cano is hitting .277 with 19 homers and 78 RBI.

The Mariners had at least one extra-base hit in each of the first five innings as R.A. Dickey gave up four runs and 11 hits in six innings.

Seattle right-hander Erasmo Ramirez, who had no hits in his first eight career at-bats, had a run-scoring single in the second for his first career hit.