• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Mariners-Athletics Preview

Sep 4, 2009 - 6:43 AM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Seattle (71-64) at Oakland (59-75), 10:05 p.m. EDT

The Seattle Mariners found an easy way to end their struggles at the plate - facing the woeful Oakland Athletics.

The Mariners will try to add to their dominance of the A's in 2009, and improve to a season-high eight games above .500 on Friday night when this four-game series continues at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

Before Thursday night's 7-4 win, Seattle (71-64) had batted .138 over its previous four games while scoring five runs. The Mariners also had three homers in their last six contests - all coming Tuesday night - and four total since sweeping the A's at home Aug. 24-26.

They hit three home runs in the first four innings of the series opener. Franklin Gutierrez and Bill Hall had two-run shots in the first inning, and Kenji Johjima added another in the fourth after Oakland had closed to within a run. Seattle finished with 10 hits for only the second time in 12 games.

"(Johjima's) home run was a big one to take that momentum back," said manager Don Wakamatsu, whose club has won eight of 11 despite its offensive struggles.

The Mariners have also hit at least one home run in five straight wins over Oakland, and their 16 homers against the A's are their most against any opponent. With Thursday's win, Seattle improved to 10-3 in the season series with the Athletics, 5-2 in Oakland and 13-6 when playing anywhere in the state of California.

Gutierrez is batting .474 with two homers and eight RBIs in his last 10 games against Oakland, and Ichiro Suzuki has a 14-game hitting streak versus the A's dating to last season.

With 190 hits, Suzuki is trying to become the first major league player to have nine consecutive seasons with at least 200.

Mariners starter Ryan Rowland-Smith (2-2, 3.95 ERA) will try to benefit as he searches for his first win in five outings. The left-hander has gotten one run of support in his last two outings. On Sunday, he set career highs with eight innings pitched and seven strikeouts while allowing three runs, but was outdueled by Kansas City's Zack Greinke, who threw a one-hitter to hand Seattle a 3-0 defeat.

Rowland-Smith is 1-1 with a 2.31 ERA in four career starts against the A's, including a 1.86 ERA with no decisions in two this season.

Oakland (59-75), which has alternated wins and losses in its last eight games and dropped 10 of 16 overall, is expected to call up rookie right-hander Clayton Mortensen (0-1, 18.00) from Triple-A Sacramento to start Friday's game.

Mortensen, acquired from St. Louis in the Matt Holliday trade on July 24, will pitch in place of fellow rookie right-hander Vin Mazzaro, who is out with shoulder tendinitis.

The Gonzaga product gave up eight runs and eight hits over four innings in his first career start Aug. 8 at Kansas City, suffering the loss in a 12-6 defeat.