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Blanton looks for third win of season

Apr 25, 2007 - 3:19 PM Seattle (6-9) at Oakland (11-9) 10:05 pm EDT

OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- Joe Blanton would like to continue the Oakland Athletics' impressive run of pitching.

Oakland starters have yielded three runs or fewer in 18 consecutive games, the longest such streak in the majors since Cleveland starters went 18 straight in 1998.

Blanton (2-0, 4.13 ERA), who possesses the highest ERA of any Oakland starter, will take the mound for the Athletics on Wednesday in the opener of a two-game series against the Seattle Mariners.

The righthander benefited from the best offensive support Oakland has given one of its pitchers in nearly two years in a 16-4 victory over Texas as he allowed three runs and seven hits with seven strikeouts over six innings. The 26-year-old Blanton is 6-1 with a 2.85 ERA in nine career starts against the Mariners.

Seattle's Jarrod Washburn (0-2, 4.42 ERA) - originally scheduled to start Monday - hopes to avoid losing his third straight start. The lefthander allowed four runs and eight hits with five strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings in a 6-5 loss to Minnesota last Thursday.

This will be the first road outing of the season for Washburn, who was 2-9 with a 5.88 ERA in 16 road games in 2006. He is 7-12 with a 4.07 ERA in 28 career starts against the Athletics.

Washburn faced Oakland on April 3 but did not receive a decision in Seattle's 8-4 victory after yielding two runs and three hits in six innings.

The Mariners try to post their third win in four games against the Athletics this season. Seattle dropped 17 of 19 games against Oakland in 2006, continuing a trend that had seen the Athletics compile a 40-16 record in the series from 2004-06.

However, the Mariners have lost 10 straight games at Oakland, last winning here on September 6, 2005. Just getting the game played would be an accomplishment for Seattle, which has had a franchise-record six games postponed by inclement weather, including Tuesday's game.