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A's try to get on track in Seattle

Apr 23, 2011 - 3:21 PM (Sports Network) - The Oakland Athletics have lost three in a row since a three-game winning streak and will try to get back on track tonight in the third installment of a four-game series against the Seattle Mariners from Safeco Field.

The Athletics have been blanked in back-to-back games with Seattle and are coming off Friday's 4-0 loss. Tyson Ross started for the A's and was dealt the loss for allowing three runs and four hits in 4 1/3 innings.

"Definitely not fun, feel like you're wasting a lot of good starts and games that you could be winning, that hopefully aren't going to hurt you down the road in September," A's second baseman Mark Ellis said of their struggles. "When we do start swinging the bats we're going to win a lot of games, you just want that to be sooner rather than later."

Kurt Suzuki led Oakland with a team-best two hits. The A's, who suffered a 1-0 loss to Seattle in the series opener, have been held scoreless for 18 consecutive innings dating back to Wednesday's loss against Boston.

It seems Oakland starter Trevor Cahill is on point every other start so far this season, so his teammates could expect a down performance tonight. After posting a no-decision in his 2011 debut versus Seattle for giving up just one run over 4 2/3 innings of a 6-2 loss, Cahill rebounded six days later with eight innings of one-run ball in a 2-1 win at Toronto.

The righty was then reached for four runs in 4 2/3 frames of a no-decision on April 12 in a 6-5 loss at the White Sox. He bounced back nicely in Sunday's 5-1 victory over Detroit with another eight-inning, one-run effort. he fanned nine batters and has recorded at least seven K's in three of his four starts this season.

Cahill, who is 2-0 with a 2.49 earned run average this season, is only 1-3 with a solid 2.80 ERA in six career starts against the Mariners.

Seattle has won two in a row and four of six games, and received six shutout innings from starter Michael Pineda last night. Pineda struck out five and walked two to improve to 3-1 on the young season.

"He had to work early, but he worked through it," Mariners manager Eric Wedge said of Pineda. "He did a good job getting his pitch count back on line after that and was able to give us six innings and did another fine job. He obviously has a great arm and when he couples that with that secondary stuff, and is aggressive with it, he's pretty good."

Adam Kennedy had two hits and two RBI, Jack Wilson went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored and Ichiro Suzuki contributed a pair of hits in the win.

Jason Vargas targets his first win of the 2011 campaign when he takes the ball for Seattle tonight. Vargas has posted back-to-back no-decisions versus Toronto and Detroit, and is 0-1 with a 4.37 earned run average in four starts.

Vargas previously toed the rubber in Monday's 8-3 loss to the Tigers, allowing two runs and six hits in six innings. He struck out four batters. Vargas took the hill at Oakland in his season debut on April 2, when he did not factor in the outcome of a 5-2 victory. He lasted 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run and five hits with six K's.

The left-hander out of Long Beach State owns a 2-1 mark and a 3.32 ERA in five career games, three of which have been starts, against the A's.

Seattle took two of three from the A's to open the year, but Oakland has won eight of the last 13 in the series, including five of the last seven at Safeco.