• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Athletics-Mariners Preview

Aug 25, 2009 - 7:11 AM By KATE HEDLIN STATS Writer

Oakland (55-69) at Seattle (64-61), 10:10 p.m. EDT

The Seattle Mariners have been struggling to score at home recently. Having Ichiro Suzuki out of the lineup likely won't help the offense.

Suzuki is expected to miss a second consecutive game Tuesday as Seattle hosts the Oakland Athletics.

The Mariners' 10-game homestand got off to a bad start Monday with news that Suzuki, the team's best hitter at .359, would miss at least the first two games of this series with tightness in his left calf.

Seattle (64-61) hadn't played without the right fielder since April 14, and manager Don Wakamatsu said he wouldn't risk further injury by using him as a pinch hitter.

"You're risking some things if he's not 100 percent at this point," Wakamatsu said. "For me it's playing him or not."

Seattle managed well enough without Suzuki on Monday, beating the Athletics 3-1 in the opener of a three-game series. Jose Lopez homered for the third time in five games while Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 625th career home run and 14th of the season.

Seattle has homered in eight consecutive games, its longest such streak in nearly three seasons.

While slugging doesn't seem to be an issue, the Mariners still have been held to three or fewer runs in seven of their last 13 home games. They've won eight of those 13, however.

Oakland (55-69) has had its own offensive trouble recently, losing six of 10 while scoring two or fewer runs in four of six. It's lost seven of 10 against the Mariners this season while hitting .222.

Monday's victory was a good start to a critical homestand for Seattle, which still has playoff aspirations despite being 7 1/2 games behind Boston for the AL wild card. After this series, the Mariners play four against AL Central-worst Kansas City before hosting the West-leading Angels for three games.

Ryan Rowland-Smith (2-1, 4.24 ERA) will be looking to continue his strong pitching at home when he takes the mound Tuesday. He has a 3.25 ERA in four starts at Safeco Field compared to a 6.39 ERA in three outings on the road.

Rowland-Smith failed to receive a decision for the second straight time after giving up five runs and walking four over 5 1-3 innings of a 7-6 loss at Detroit on Thursday.

The Australian left-hander is 1-1 with a 2.12 ERA in three starts against the Athletics. He made his first start of the season April 10 versus Oakland, needing 82 pitches to go 3 1-3 innings in a 5-4 win.

Oakland will hand the ball Tuesday to Brett Anderson (7-9, 4.51).

Anderson is coming off his first loss in five starts after giving up three runs in seven innings of a 3-2 defeat to the Yankees on Wednesday. The left-hander had allowed a season-high seven runs in his previous start but did not receive a decision.

The 21-year-old rookie is 1-1 in two starts against Seattle, including a loss in his major league debut April 10. He has yet to face the Mariners at Safeco.