5 reasons Mariners are at top of AL West

SEATTLE — Two months into the season, the Mariners have emerged as one of baseball’s biggest surprises. At 28-18, they sit atop the American League West and own the second-best record in the league, one game back of the Red Sox heading into Thursday’s off-day.

With a roster that new general manager Jerry Dipoto retrofitted with a flurry of offseason deals and led by a manager in Scott Servais who never filled that position at any level prior to this spring, the Mariners are proving to be a legitimate force.

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Following Wednesday’s 13-3 win over the A’s, the Mariners have the lowest ERA in the AL at 3.20 and — more surprisingly — they have recovered from a slow start with the bats to where they’re now second to the Red Sox in runs per game. That’s a healthy combination, which is why Seattle has gone 10-1-1 over its last 12 series and has the best record in baseball at 26-12 since April 13.

So how have the Mariners pulled off this hot start? Here are five keys to their surprising start:

1. An MVP-type leaderRobinson Cano started hot and hasn’t let up. The six-time All-Star enters Thursday tied with Todd Frazier of the White Sox for most home runs in the AL with 14 and tied with David Ortiz of the Red Sox for most RBIs in the Majors at 43.

Those are monster numbers for a second baseman, putting him on pace for 49 homers and 151 RBIs. While it’s doubtful he can maintain that level in the power department, the encouraging thing for the Mariners is that Cano really isn’t hitting over his head in anything but the long-ball department. His .295 batting average and .345 on-base percentage are both lower than his career averages of .307 and .356 coming into this year.

So while his slugging percentage of .584 is way above his career .497 mark, it’s certainly conceivable that Cano could sustain …

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