Cano’s resurgence has Seattle in thick of race

Life is good in Seattle. The Mariners have won eight in a row. They have climbed to within 1 1/2 games of the second American League Wild Card spot.

The Mariners have scored more runs than any team in baseball during that stretch, with Nelson Cruz and Norichika Aoki getting the attention on offense while rookie starter Ariel Miranda (2-0, zero earned runs in 12 innings) and closer Edwin Diaz (4-for-4 in saves, with four perfect innings) have received the publicity on the hill.

Nobody, however, is enjoying it more than Robinson Cano.

Cano is no longer having to deal with verbal blasts like the one former Mariners outfield coach Andy Van Slyke delivered in an offseason radio interview. The media rumblings that Cano wasn’t happy in Seattle and wanted to be a Yankee again have been silenced. And he is definitely a favorite among the Mariners fans.

Cano never made an issue out of his struggles a year ago. He ignored falling back on the pressures that came with his 10-year, $240 million contract, although he now will admit, “When you go to a new team, you want to show them they made a good decision.”

And Cano chose not to talk about physical problems.

“You don’t want to look for excuses when you are going bad,” Cano explained.

Cano did, however, undergo surgery last October to repair his left and right core muscles, an injury diagnosed on June 18 that he decided to …

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