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Furbush, Mariners eye sweep of A's

Aug 3, 2011 - 2:51 PM (Sports Network) - Charles Furbush makes his first start for Seattle this afternoon when the Mariners go for a sweep in their three-game series with the Oakland Athletics at Safeco Field.

Furbush, acquired from Detroit as a part of a six-player deal that sent Doug Fister to the Tigers, gave up a run in an inning of work on Sunday against Tampa Bay in his Mariners debut. The left-hander had been 1-3 with a 3.62 ERA in 17 appearances with the Tigers.

This will be his first start against the A's and just the third of his big league career this afternoon.

Furbush will try to keep the momentum going for a Seattle team that has won the first two games of this set after another one of the players acquired in the Fister deal led it to a win on Tuesday, as Casper Wells' two-run homer proved to be the difference in the 4-2 victory .

Wells' two-run shot in the sixth inning made it 4-0 and helped Seattle win consecutive games for the first time since a three-game streak from July 3-5.

"We've thrown him right in there, he's played every day so far," Mariners manager Eric Wedge said of Wells. "I don't anticipate him playing every single day, but we're going to try and get him a good amount of playing time."

Felix Hernandez (10-9) was credited with the win after holding the A's to two runs on five hits over 6 1/3 innings.

Rich Harden (2-2), who was speculated to be heading to Boston near the trade deadline, surrendered four runs on five hits in 5 2/3 innings for Oakland, which had won five of seven before losing the first two meetings of this three-game set.

"He made two mistakes and it cost him four runs, the change-up on the last pitch he threw and the ball that Carp hit to left-center field, other than that, he was terrific again," A's manager Bob Melvin said of Harden.

Heading to the hill for the A's tonight will be lefty Gio Gonzalez, who has lost three of his last four starts. The All-Star Gonzalez lost to Minnesota on Friday, as he allowed five runs (four earned) and nine hits in 5 1/3 innings to fall to 9-8 on the year to go along with a 2.84 ERA.

Gonzalez beat the Mariners the last time he faced them and is 5-1 lifetime in this series with a 3.14 ERA in 10 games (eight starts).

Seattle has won eight of its 12 matchups with the A's in 2011.