SEATTLE (AP) — Oakland Athletics manager Bob Melvin said he wasn’t paying much attention to the out-of-town scoreboard at Safeco Field during his team’s 9-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night.No matter Los Angeles Kings T-Shirts Authentic , Melvin and his team got the result they wanted.Matt Olson hit a grand slam that capped a six-run fifth inning. Khris Davis added his major league-leading 47th home run and the A’s moved closer in the AL wild-card race.The Athletics took advantage of the Yankees‘ 8-7 loss to Tampa Bay to move within 1 1/2 games of New York atop the wild-card standings.Oakland (96-63) improved to a big league-best 41-21 since the All-Star break. New York (97-61) holds the tiebreaker to host the Oct. 3 game; the winner advances to the Division Series against AL East champion Boston.“We’re just trying to win every game we can,” Melvin said. “Now, we have to balance it with who we’re playing and resting guys, but again, we feel good with whatever lineup we run out there.”With the score 3-all Los Angeles Kings Hoodies Authentic , Nick Martini hit an RBI single that chased Felix Hernandez (8-14), who made his first appearance since gaining American citizenship this week. Marcus Semien added a run-scoring single against Chasen Bradford before Olson’s drive to right-center.Chad Pinder also homered for the A’s, who reached 96 wins for the first time since 2013. Ryan Buchter (6-0) pitched a hitless inning in relief of Edwin Jackson, who gave up three runs and five hits in 4 1/3 innings.“Everything now is just a day-at-a-time mentality,” Jackson said. “You can’t really look too far ahead. We’ll find out what’s next in due time.”Hernandez Los Angeles Kings Hats Authentic , a 32-year-old Venezuelan who won the 2010 AL Cy Young Award, was sworn in as a U.S. citizen on Monday. He gave up five runs — four earned — three hits and two walks in four innings.Hernandez finished with a 5.55 ERA, more than a run above his previous career high last year. His ERA has more than doubled since he led the AL in 2014 at 2.14.“It’s kind of what we saw the majority of the year,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said of Hernandez.Meanwhile, aside from trying to play themselves into a home wild-card game Custom Los Angeles Kings Jerseys , the A’s were saying they hope to see Davis reach a round-number long-ball milestone by the time the regular season ends Sunday.“I definitely want to see him get to 50,” Olson said. “I think he can do it, too. We’ll see.”CLOSING INMariners LHP James Paxton may start Saturday against Texas, giving him a chance to get the single strikeout he needs to reach 200 for the first time.FRONT OFFICESeattle hired Frankie Thon Jr. as head of amateur international scouting. Thon spent the previous two seasons with the Los Angeles Angels and before that was with Arizona for eight seasons. Triple-A manager Pat Listach was let go after the season and Mike Micucci is not expected to return as minor league coordinator.TRAINER’S ROOMAthletics: Relievers Lou Trivino (sore neck) and Cory Gearrin (triceps) were slightly improved but did not pitch.UP NEXTAthletics: RHP Mike Fiers (12-7, 3.31 ERA) starts Friday’s series opener at the Los Angeles Angels.Mariners: LHP Marco Gonzales (13-9 www.officialwild.com , 4.12) pitches Thursday’s series opener against Texas and RHP Ariel Jurado (4-5, 6.66). The beauty of the draft is every year it offers renewed hope. Whether it鈥檚 for franchises seeking a savior or players looking to take that next step in their careers, it鈥檚 a time of positivity. But it can also be time to reflect on the perseverance needed just to put that NHL sweater on for the first time. Florida third-rounder Logan Hutsko knows that better than anyone in the 2018 class.As a teenager, he played at Shattuck-St. Mary鈥檚 prep school, the alma mater of Sidney Crosby and Jonathan Toews. After that Minnesota Wild T-Shirts Authentic , Hutsko earned entry into USA Hockey鈥檚 National Team Development Program, where he was hot-housed with the some of the best under-17s and under-18s in the nation. But the path to the NHL is never easy, and for Hutsko, his two years with the NTDP ended up being the most foreboding of... All-Access +All-Access Member AreaPremium content and in-depth analysis from our team of experts exclusively for magazine subscribers. Simply login to unlock the content or become a member for less than $2.50 a month.LoginBecome a Member