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Aug 16, 2010 - 12:16 AM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

Seattle (46-71) at Baltimore (41-76), 7:05 p.m. EDT

Recent managerial changes have sparked the Baltimore Orioles and the Seattle Mariners. The newfound success may already be proving fleeting for one of these last-place clubs.

The Orioles look to avoid their first three-game slide under Buck Showalter when they open a three-game series with the Mariners on Monday night.

The Orioles (41-77) and Mariners (46-72) are at the bottom of their respective divisions with little hope of finishing the season anywhere else. Both clubs opted to change their managers in midseason.

Baltimore fired Dave Trembley on June 4, replacing him with Showalter earlier this month following an interim stint by Juan Samuel.

The Orioles started 9-2 under Showalter before dropping consecutive games at Tampa Bay over the weekend, including a 3-2 defeat Sunday.

Showalter didn't take much solace in Baltimore's 3-3 trip - an improvement on the club's AL-worst 17-43 road record.

"We don't look at 'X' number of games won on a road trip as a success or failure," he said. "You don't ever think, well, we're just playing with house money today."

The Mariners also put together a strong stretch after Daren Brown replaced Don Wakamatsu on an interim basis last Monday.

Seattle has won four of six under Brown, but is coming off its most lopsided defeat since the change, a 9-1 loss at Cleveland on Sunday.

"I think we're headed in a good direction," Brown told the team's official website. "A lot of these guys, I've had in different clubhouses at the minor league level, so there's a little bit of familiarity, which is hopefully helpful for them as well as me."

The Mariners may have a hard time at the plate again Monday as the Orioles turn to Brad Bergesen (4-9, 5.84 ERA), who is looking to build on the best performance of his brief career.

The 24-year-old right-hander threw a two-hitter - his second complete game in two big-league seasons - in a 3-1 win at Cleveland on Wednesday.

"I couldn't be prouder of him," pitching coach Rick Kranitz told the team's official website of Bergesen, who has come back from last year's season-ending shin injury, an offseason shoulder injury and two separate demotions to Triple-A in a difficult sophomore season. "I'm just so happy for him because what he's gone through and the adversity."

Bergesen had been 0-7 with a 6.65 ERA in 14 games - 12 starts - and also spent two weeks in the minors since his previous win for the Orioles, against Seattle on May 12.

"I don't dwell on that," Showalter said. "He showed (Wednesday) what he is capable of doing at this level."

Bergesen will now face the Mariners for the first time since May, when he allowed one run in 7 2-3 innings of a 5-2 home win. He's 2-2 with a 2.87 ERA in five starts against them, but 0-2 with a 5.17 ERA in three games at Safeco Field.

Doug Fister (4-8, 3.86), who ended a long losing streak of his own in his last trip to the mound, will take the mound for the Mariners.

The right-hander yielded one run with five strikeouts in six innings of a 3-1 win over Oakland last Monday. He had been 0-7 with a 5.65 ERA in his previous 11 starts.

Fister has won consecutive starts only once in his two-year career, April 13-19 of this season. He completed that feat with an 8-2 home win in his only start against the Orioles, allowing one run and three hits in seven innings.

The Orioles have won seven of their last 10 home meetings with Seattle, including two of three May 11-13.