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OAKLAND, Calif. -- Seattle Mariners left-hander James Paxton is no stranger to a wild-card playoff race.In 2014, he went 4-4 with a 3.19 ERA in the final two months of season as the Mariners fought for a spot in the playoffs. They finished 87-75, one game behind the Oakland As, who captured the second wild-card berth in the American League.Paxton is back in a playoff race this year for the second time in his career and hes savoring every minute.Absolutely, said Paxton, who will start Sunday in the series finale against Oakland. Tons of fun. Its awesome being right there. Weve been playing well the last few games here and hopefully we can keep that going and get on a roll.The Mariners (74-68) won their fourth straight game Saturday, a 14-3 victory over Oakland, and will go for the series sweep Sunday.Paxton beat the As in a September matchup in 2014, and hes 2-0 with a 2.63 ERA in two career starts against the As. This will be his first start of 2016 against Oakland.Having success against a particular team kind of helps your confidence a little bit going in, knowing that you pitched well against a team in the past, but for me its more about how youre feeling about your stuff going into the start, Paxton said.Paxton is 0-1 with a 6.91 ERA in his past three starts since coming off the disabled list (left elbow contusion), but he struck out 17 and walked two during that stretch. In his previous four starts, he went 2-1 with a 1.59 ERA, 27 strikeouts and three walks.I feel good, Paxton said. I feel good about how Im throwing the ball. I feel like I threw the ball really well last game. Some unfortunate things happened. I made a couple mistakes. I feel good about where Im at. So Im looking forward to the game tomorrow.In his past few starts, Paxton has had a problem with the nail on his left middle finger.Last year, it tore up completely and I was unable to pitch at the end of the season, Paxton said. And it grew back, and a piece that was dead kind of fell off. All the pressure was going to one side of the nail because I only had half a nail. It started ripping up again, but weve kind of figured out a way to keep it down, and it should work a lot better now. It seems to be healing pretty well. Its better than it was for sure.As rookie right-hander Raul Alcantara, who had a rough major-league debut Monday against the Los Angeles Angels, will make his second career start. Alcantara gave up five runs and five hits in three innings in a 10-7 loss. He hit three batters in the first inning, tying the major-league record for most batters hit in an inning.I wasnt nervous, Alcantara said. Right now for the second outing, weve been watching some video, stuff from the minor leagues, looking at some video of the batters were going to face. I think the second outings going to go a lot better for me.Alcantara, who began the season at Double-A Midland, went 4-0 with a 1.18 ERA in eight starts for Triple-A Nashville. In 25 minor-league starts, he walked only 30 batters.There wasnt any control issue with him, and then you hit a couple guys in your first big-league outing, and it can probably get in (your head) a little bit, As manager Bob Melvin said. He finished up with good stuff. He looked like he was starting to get a lot more comfortable, and I expect that to be the case tomorrow.Erik McCoy Jersey . But by the time the game started, the Toronto Raptors forward felt even worse. And, for three quarters, it showed as Gay shot a woeful three-for-13 from the field. Alvin Kamara Womens Jersey . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. http://www.authenticsaintssportsonline.com/saints-cameron-jordan-gold-jersey/ . Defenceman Yannick Weber scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the Canucks breathed a sigh of relief with a 2-1 win on Saturday night. New Orleans Saints Jerseys . -- Al Jefferson found a groove just in time for the Charlotte Bobcats. Ted Ginn Jr Youth Jersey . How great will be revealed in the next couple of days at the board of governors meeting in Pebble Beach, Calif.Nico Rosberg said his clean sweep of practice sessions in Suzuka helped him beat Lewis Hamilton to pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix by just 0.013s.Rosberg has been the quickest Mercedes all weekend and topped Hamilton in Q1 and Q2, only for the reigning world champion to edge ahead in the initial Q3 laps. On the final runs Rosberg just did enough to get ahead on a 1:30.647 which Hamilton was unable to match.Reflecting on the lap, Rosberg said: Of course, happy with the result in the end. It was going well the whole weekend and I had a good balance in the car, feeling good, feeling comfortable, and thats what allows me to put in a lap like that in the end.It was just a good lap, just got it all done properly, thats it. I knew I could do it, I knew I could do a good lap. The first one in Q3 wasnt perfect so I just had to get my head down and nail it.Its Rossbergs third consecutive pole position at the Suzuka circuit, though Hamilton beat him to victory from second on the grid in 2014 and 2015.ddddddddddddRosberg knows the start - where Hamilton barged past him last year - will be key, but the German is also wary about the role tyres will play over the course of the race.Its just putting everything together. For sure the start is going to be an important one tomorrow, and weve seen this weekend its not been too easy because its downhill and the grip somehow has been a bit lower than usual - so its going to be an interesting challenge.From then on just need to get the tyre life to get to do long enough stints and everything to get the strategy to work, its just putting everything together. ' ' '