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Athletics-Mariners Preview

Oct 1, 2009 - 6:33 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

Oakland (75-83) at Seattle (82-76), 10:10 p.m. EDT

The Seattle Mariners won't be going to the playoffs, but their season should still be considered a successful one.

A year after experiencing one of the worst seasons in franchise history, the Mariners try for a third straight victory and series sweep of the visiting Oakland Athletics on Thursday night.

Ken Griffey Jr. hit a three-run homer and Brandon Morrow allowed one hit over eight innings in Seattle's 7-0 win over Oakland on Wednesday.

The Mariners (82-76), who went an AL-worst 61-101 in 2008, have secured a winning record this season during a remarkable turnaround that's been aided by a 45-32 mark at Safeco Field.

"Going back to what we tried to subscribe to all year is that we go into every single game with being prepared, with having a belief system that we can win games," first-year manager Don Wakamatsu told the Mariners' official Web site.

The addition of veterans like Griffey and Mike Sweeney have helped improve team chemistry. Griffey, who's hit a three-run homer in each of the first two games of the set, has 18 on the season and 629 for his career.

Adrian Beltre and Ichiro Suzuki each had two hits Wednesday for the Mariners, who improved to 13-5 against the A's this season, including 7-1 at home where they've won six in a row versus Oakland (75-83).

Suzuki's batting .351, and .418 this season versus the A's, who have a good chance to salvage a win with Brett Anderson on the mound.

Anderson (11-10, 4.12 ERA), who will try to end a solid rookie season by winning his fifth straight start, allowed one earned run in 5 2-3 innings of a 12-3 victory over Texas last Thursday.

The 21-year-old left-hander is 4-0 with a 2.28 ERA since losing at Los Angeles on Aug. 30. Anderson has 142 strikeouts, moving him past Rick Langford for most by a rookie in Oakland history.

"It's pretty special considering some of the great guys who have made their debuts in this uniform," said Anderson, who's 2-1 with a 3.75 ERA in four starts against the Mariners, who counter with Doug Fister.

Fister (2-4, 4.50) looks to avoid losing his fourth straight start after giving up four runs in 6 2-3 innings of a 5-0 defeat at Toronto on Friday.

"I thought he threw a heck of a ballgame," Wakamatsu said. "The line doesn't read quite as good."

The right-hander, who's 0-3 with a 7.08 ERA in four starts since beating Los Angeles on Sept. 1, allowed one run in five innings, but did not receive a decision in a 5-2 loss in his only appearance against Oakland on Sept. 6.

Rajai Davis, who's 2 for 3 with a double against Fister, had one of the two hits Wednesday for Oakland, which has lost three straight after winning 16 of 20.

Davis is 1 for 12 in his last three contests after his 14-game hitting streak was snapped Sunday.