MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Twins didn't make history on Saturday. Teetering on the brink of just the second 100-loss season in franchise history, that's a good thing for them.

Early homers by Jorge Polanco and Miguel Sano helped the Twins snap a seven-game losing streak, and they never trailed in beating the Seattle Mariners 3-2.

Minnesota, which has 99 losses, got seven solid innings from starter Tyler Duffey (9-11), who allowed four hits and no walks.

Seattle starter Ariel Miranda (5-2) gave up three hits in four innings, but two of them cleared the fence. Three Mariners relievers retired the final 12 Twins batters in a row.

"I finally found a good rhythm to keep me composed, to keep from pulling off the ball," Duffey said. "I located a lot better today. Got behind a couple times, but defense bailed me out, had some good plays in the outfield and scored enough to win."

Brandon Kintzler pitched the ninth for the Twins, collecting his 15th save after a scare, when the first two Mariners reached base. Nelson Cruz's long homer in the fourth provided Seattle's only offense.

"Pitching, it's amazing how it can change the complexion of the game," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "Good on both sides. Duffey hung in there, made a mistake on Cruz over there on 3-2 trying to go down and away, ended up coming up and left it inside. He hung in there."

The night was a setback for Miranda, who had won four consecutive starts but lasted just 52 pitches. Duffey, who hadn't collected a win in more than a month, threw 85 pitches and struck out four Mariners. He was relieved by Taylor Rogers, who struck out the side in the eighth.

"My secondary pitches were not very good," Miranda said through an interpreter. "When I had a chance to throw my breaking ball, it was not working. So that's when I threw my fastball and got hit. The fastball was a little bit up."

While the Twins have been out of the race for weeks, the loss was costly to the Mariners, who fell 2 1/2 games back in the chase for the final American League wild-card spot.

The Twins, whose last win was Sept. 15 in Detroit, hadn't even led in a week. They took care of that negative statistic with their second batter of the game when Polanco sent a pitch into the front row of the left-field bleachers.

Minnesota's lead doubled in the second when Kennys Vargas led off with a walk, advanced on a single and a lineout, and scored on Logan Schafer's fielder's choice.

But Seattle rallied for a 2-2 tie in the fourth. After a Robinson Cano single, Cruz blasted a 3-2 pitch into the third deck in left field. Statcast listed the home run at 493 feet, which would make it the second-longest homer in the majors this season. It was the 39th of the season for Cruz, who also homered in the series opener on Friday.

"I squared pretty good. I wasn't expecting it to go that far, but you never know with this guy," Cruz said. "I've hit a few over there, but they haven't measured that far. You never know with Statcast, you never know how far it's going to go until they say."

But Minnesota took the lead back in the bottom of the fourth. Sano took Miranda's first pitch in the inning deep to left, putting the Twins up 3-2.

"He's fine physically. We're kind of at the point in the season where we have a read on his stuff," Mariners manager Scott Servais said of Miranda and the decision to lift his starter after four innings.

"At that point, we've got the game tied. First pitch, it's untied, and we got through that inning, but we weren't in a position to give up a whole lot more. Our bullpen did a nice job there and gave us a chance."

NOTES: Since Target Field opened in 2010, it has been rumored as a potential host of an NHL Winter Classic game, but football might be the next sport to come to the ballpark. Nothing has been finalized, but Twins president Dave St. Peter confirmed that the team is in talks with North Dakota State University officials regarding the Bison hosting a game in Minneapolis a year from now. North Dakota State has won the past five NCAA FCS titles. ... The Twins will close out their home schedule on Sunday afternoon, sending LHP Hector Santiago (12-9, 4.82 ERA) to the mound. His Seattle counterpart will be RHP Taijuan Walker (6-11, 4.32). ... Twenty-five years ago, the 1991 season was memorable for both the Twins and Mariners. Minnesota won the AL West and eventually its second World Series title, and the Mariners had two firsts in franchise history, finishing with a winning record (83-79) and drawing more than two million fans.