SEATTLE -- All the reports from the minors said Mike Zunino was making the changes the Seattle Mariners wanted to see. His power was still there, but the strikeouts were down and the pitch recognition was improved.Now back in the majors, Zunino provided a promising glimpse on Saturday night of what the Mariners hope is an improved version of the former first-round pick.Zunino homered twice in his first game of the season, Nelson Cruz and Seth Smith both hit three-run home runs, and the Mariners slugged past the Baltimore Orioles 12-6 on Saturday night.Adam Lind had four hits including a solo homer as the Mariners won for the sixth time in eight games and took their third straight from the AL East leading Orioles.Its always exciting to get back. Obviously how last year ended isnt how you write it up. Theres been a lot of work put into it and just to get the opportunity to come back and do that, that was a lot of fun, Zunino said. To come in and have that type of game was even better.Cruz staked Seattle to a 3-0 lead with his 21st homer of the season in the first inning off Baltimore starter Tyler Wilson (4-6) and Zunino extended it to 5-0 in the second on a two-run shot in his first at-bat of the season after being called up from Triple-A Tacoma earlier this week.Zunino, a former first-round pick by the Mariners, was rushed to the majors early in his career and his hitting suffered, bottoming out last year when he hit .174 in 112 games. Seattle spent the offseason retooling Zuninos approach at the plate, but the goal was to keep him at Triple-A for most of the season.When backup catcher Steve Clevenger suffered a broken bone in his hand earlier this week, a move needed to be made and Zunino was the obvious choice. He lined a 1-2 curveball from Wilson out in the second inning then drove the first pitch from reliever Mychal Givens in the sixth.Perhaps most impressive of his three times on base, Zunino walked in the eighth laying off borderline pitches he went after in the past.Its not easy to go back to the minor leagues and work on things and have a good attitude about it, Seattle manager Scott Servais said. Happy for him and a big night no doubt. Wasnt expecting two home runs but well take it.Cruzs homer was estimated at 459 feet and landed above the bullpens in deep left-center and the five home runs helped Seattle move into second in the majors with 122, trailing only Baltimore.Smith ended Wilsons night with a three-run shot in the fourth, getting the green light on a 3-0 pitch for his ninth homer of the season. It was Smiths third straight game with a home run and he finished with four RBI.I dont swing 3-0 very often but sometimes you want to take a chance and see what happens, Smith said.Wilson failed to record an out in the fourth before getting pulled. It was his shortest outing of the season as a starter.Hes not as quite as crisp as he was . Hes just not carrying the same crispness he had earlier in the season, Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said.The offensive outburst gave leeway for Seattle starter James Paxton when he struggled in the later innings. Paxton (2-3) was dominant for four innings, but couldnt make it out of the sixth after allowing five base runners in the inning. Tom Wilhelmsen got a pop out from Adam Jones with the bases loaded to escape the sixth.Chris Davis had three RBI, including a two-run homer in the seventh off reliever Nathan Karns.TRAINERS ROOMOrioles: Showalter sounded pessimistic that RHP Darren ODay (hamstring) would be able to throw a bullpen session when the Orioles are in Los Angeles early next week. ODays been on the disabled list since June 3.Mariners: LHP Charlie Furbush threw a simulated game as he continues his recovery from shoulder problems. Furbush will likely be sent out on a rehab assignment soon.UP NEXTOrioles: Ubaldo Jimenez (5-7) goes for his third straight victory. Jimenez gave up one run in five innings in his last start against San Diego.Mariners: Hisashi Iwakuma (7-6) starts the finale of the four-game series. Iwakuma threw 6 2/3 innings in his last start to get the win. 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Fifty years ago, Michigan State and Notre Dame played in what was then called the Game of the Century. It pitted No. 1 Notre Dame against No. 2 Michigan State at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Mich.Of course, it ended in a 10-10 tie, a bit of a letdown considering the magnitude of the game. However, 50 years later, the game still stands as an iconic moment with both programs.And when the Spartans and Fighting Irish meet at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium, that historic game will be on the minds of many, almost as much as the fact the 2016 version of each team is trying to find its footing and jump into the national championship hunt.Very excited about going down to South Bend to play in this game, Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said. Its a rivalry game for us. Been involved in this football game probably since 97 as an assistant coach, and theres been some great games with Notre Dame.I think it all goes back to the 66 game certainly and even maybe before that. So its been a traditional-type rivalry and weve embraced that as we have so many of our other rivalries.Michigan State and Notre Dame have played 77 times, but this will be the first meeting since 2013 as the rivalry took a hiatus.Even with the break, the teams understand theyre getting ready for a big game.Its a winning team, so they know how to win, Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said of the Spartans. We watched film after film of their games in the Big Ten and theres a lot of opponents that have em on the ropes and they find a way to win whether its Ohio State or Indiana who has a great chance to win the game, but they come back and beat them.So it says that you obviously have that winning attitude that you can close out games. But I think more than anything else is Michigan State is going to play the game with that mental and physical toughness and you have to match it.Notre Dame showed its own share of mental toughness in last weeks victory over Nevadda, bouncing back from a double-overtime loss to Texas in the season-opener.ddddddddddddThe Fighting Irish allowed 50 points and more than 500 total yards in that game but were much more solid in the win over Nevada. What hasnt changed in two weeks has been the play of quarterback DeShone Kizer, who has taken control of the job he split with Malik Zaire in the opener. His passer rating is top-five in the nation and hes been nearly perfect in the red zone, completing seven of 10 passes with five touchdowns.Overall, the Irish have gained 444 total yards in each of the first two games, running for 239 against Nevada. Its that sort of production that has the attention of the Spartans.I would say overall their offense is extremely athletic and theyve got a lot of players, fifth-year senior linebacker Riley Bullough said. Kizer, hes an athletic guy, he can throw the ball but he can also take it and run. So to combat that, youve got to be fundamentally sound on defense. Everyones got to do their job. Theyve got to do it every single play for the entire game.Michigan State had a bye in week two, giving them time to straighten out several issues from an uninspiring victory over Furman in the season-opener that featured 10 penalties and a pair of turnovers.So instead of taking it easy during the bye, the Spartans went to work, fixing their own issues while getting a jump on the Irish.Ive been reminded by one of our coaches weve had one game in six weeks since coming here on Aug. 5, Dantonio said. So hopefully practice makes perfect. ... Again, weve waited. I dont think there is anybody in our program that wanted to sit last weekend. So I anticipate our guys being ready to go, enthusiastic, and it will be fun to go down there. There will be 10, 15,000 Spartan fans there as well. That makes it exciting as well. ' ' '