MINNEAPOLIS — Back on the field, the Mariners appeared unfazed by the potential distraction of the Steve Clevenger controversy by rolling to a 10-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

They didn’t appear too fazed by the sad-sack Twins, either. And, actually, that represented a much-needed change; the Twins executed a three-game sweep in their late May visit to Safeco Field.

On Friday, though, the Mariners got a dominant start from James Paxton, who allowed just one tainted run in seven innings. And they blew open a close game with a six-run seventh inning against four Minnesota relievers.

“Pax threw the ball pretty well,” said designated hitter Nelson Cruz, who drove in four runs. “That’s the only thing we care about, what we can do on the field. Don’t worry about anything outside of the lines.

“If we do that, I think we should be in pretty good shape.”

Also encouraging: Much of the run production came from key guys. Robinson Cano had four hits, while Cruz had a two-run double and a mammoth two-run homer.

Cruz just missed a three-run homer earlier in the game when Minnesota center fielder Byron Buxton made a leaping catch at the wall. There was no doubt on his 454-foot drive in the eighth inning off the batter’s eye.

“I told the guys,” Cruz said, “`I need to hit it so he can’t catch the ball.’”

It was all welcome and needed because it wasn’t a great night for the Mariners elsewhere around the American League. Toronto, Detroit and Baltimore all won.

The Mariners did pull ahead of Houston, but the updated math shows them still trailing Detroit by two games in the race for the final wild-card berth with nine games remaining in the regular season.

Baltimore is one-half game behind Detroit.

It was the Mariners’ first game since Clevenger, an injured catcher not accompanying the club on its road trip, created a social-media firestorm Thursday by posting two racially-insensitive messages on Twitter.

The Mariners responded earlier Friday by suspending Clevenger without pay for the balance of the season — and then sought to put the incident behind them as they continued their postseason quest.

Paxton (5-7) allowed one run and five hits over seven innings while striking out nine and walking none. Dan Altavilla and Arquimedes Caminero closed out the victory.

“The curveball was big,” Paxton said. “Being able to throw it for strikes early in the count was big because they couldn’t just cheat on the fastball And burying it late, because I was throwing it for strikes, they had to swing.”

It was the Mariners’ first game since Clevenger, an injured catcher not accompanying the club on its road trip, created a social-media firestorm Thursday by posting two racially-insensitive messages on Twitter.

The Mariners responded earlier Friday by suspending Clevenger without pay for the balance of the season — and then sought to put the incident behind them as they continued their postseason quest.

“This is the time of the year,” Cano said, “where I don’t want to focus on anything else. I don’t have any comment on that. Just keep moving forward.”

Twins starter Kyle Gibson (6-11) needed 99 pitches to make it through five innings but gave up just two runs before the Mariners feasted on the Minnesota bullpen.

The six-run seventh inning started against lefty Ryan O’Rourke when the Mariners went to their bench for right-handed hitters.