For Cano, what a difference a year makes

SEATTLE — The Astros found a way to cool off the Mariners on Wednesday night, but nobody has put a stop yet to Robinson Cano’s early power surge.

The Mariners second baseman moved into the American League lead with his eighth home run and increased his league-leading RBI total to 24 by driving in three more runs in Wednesday’s 7-4 loss.

Cano said he’s not trying to hit homers. Those just come when he’s swinging well. But RBIs? Yeah, that’s a big focus for a guy who continually talks about the importance of delivering when given the chance with runners at second or third.

“That is what I’m trying to do, take advantage every time I get men in scoring position, compared to last year when I was so slow in the first half,” Cano said. “Some days it works and sometimes you have to go home and get stronger in that situation.”

Cano hasn’t had many slow days yet this first month of the season. After racking up six RBIs in his final two at-bats in Tuesday’s 11-1 win, Cano kept it up with a solo homer in the first and run-scoring single in the third, giving him eight RBIs in four consecutive plate appearances over the two nights.

He added another RBI with a ninth-inning grounder that cut the final …

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