Nelson Cruz offered a hint of things to come Saturday night when he crushed a 459-foot homer, a three-run shot, in the first inning. That was the start. Just the start.

MIAMI – At times, it seems Ichiro is caught in some kind of bizarre time warp. His body, at age 42, is as lithe and limber as ever. “If I ever get a belly, I will retire,’’ he tells me, repeating a familiar refrain – but there’s little chance of that, despite Ichiro’s insistence, perhaps playful, that he now eats three cheeseburgers with fries for lunch on the road. I dare say he’ll have a flat stomach at 52, 72 and 92.

SEATTLE – Journeyman left-hander Wade LeBlanc is building a case to be more than a temporary replacement in the Mariners bullpen. And rookie Edwin Diaz is emerging as a dominant set-up reliever.

June was a dreadful month for the Mariners, who ought to be glad to flip the calendar in the hope of better times ahead. That said, they sent June packing with a satisfying kick in the pants.

Left-hander Wade Miley returned Wednesday from the disabled list and took a beating over four innings and, really, he was the more fortunate member of the Mariners’ starting battery.

It is a constant refrain from manager Scott Servais, almost a mnemonic beat, that all success for the Mariners centers on strong starting pitching.

Matt Carpenter and Tommy Pham each homered twice as the St. Louis Cardinals went deep six times in an 11-6 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Sunday.

Dae-Ho Lee drove in two runs and Leonys Martin had three hits to help Nathan Karns get his first win in almost a month as the Seattle Mariners beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 on Saturday night.

SEATTLE – Mariners right-hander Adrian Sampson needs surgery on his injured right elbow and is expected to miss the remainder of the season. Sampson was scratched from his scheduled start in Detroit on Thursday while tossing his warmup pitches before the bottom of the first inning. Sampson felt sudden discomfort in his elbow and had to be pulled from the game before throwing a single pitch.

Adam Lind hit a winning three-run home run in the ninth inning off St. Louis closer Trevor Rosenthal, and the Seattle Mariners rallied for a 4-3 win over the Cardinals on Friday night to snap a six-game losing streak.