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Mariners open three-game set vs. Athletics

Apr 9, 2009 - 10:32 PM By Kate Hedlin Stats Writer

Seattle (2-2) at Oakland (2-1) 10:05 p.m. EDT

OAKLAND, California (AP) -- Ryan Rowland-Smith passed on an opportunity to pitch in the World Baseball Classic in order to earn a spot in the Seattle Mariners' rotation.

He'll begin to see if the extra work paid off Friday when Seattle opens a three-game series with the Oakland Athletics.

Rowland-Smith was converted into a starter last July after making 58 relief appearances for Seattle (2-2) between 2007 and 2008. He finished the season 3-2 with a 3.50 ERA in 12 starts. The Mariners were only 3-8 in those outings, but the left-hander had eight quality starts.

The Australian chose not to pitch for his home country in the World Baseball Classic this summer, though, and new manager Don Wakamatsu was pleased with the decision, saying it was important he stayed in camp to mature.

"His strength is his aggressiveness, and you never want to take that away from a pitcher," Wakamatsu told the Mariners' official Web site. "But when his emotions get out of control, I think he stops making adjustments. We still want him to be aggressive, but we also want him to be under control and think on his feet."

The left-hander is 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA in two starts and five relief appearances against the A's (2-1). He split two starts against them last season and had a 2.63 ERA.

He'll look to quiet Oakland's lineup, which, after opening its series against the Los Angeles Angels with a 3-0 loss, put together 31 hits in consecutive 6-4 victories in the next two games. The series finale between the teams was postponed Thursday following the death of Angels rookie pitcher Nick Adenhart.

In Wednesday's victory, the A's scored three runs in the eighth and three in the ninth to rally for the win. Nomar Garciaparra, Matt Holliday and Mark Ellis, who finished with three hits, all had ninth-inning RBI singles.

"Sometimes you can make your own breaks," Holliday said. "We had to take advantage of the breaks we got, and it worked out for us. It was a fun game to jump in at the end."

Ryan Sweeney has six hits in his last two games after going 0-for-4 in the season opener.

Seattle, meanwhile, is coming off a split of its series with the Twins, winning the opener and finale. On Thursday, Jarrod Washburn allowed five hits over eight innings in a 2-0 victory. Adrian Beltre and Rob Johnson each had RBI singles.

Brandon Morrow, who walked three and gave up the game-winning hit in Tuesday's loss, got the save in the ninth, striking out two and getting a popout to end the game after walking the first batter.

"It took me a little while to put it out of my head," Morrow said. "But I was just glad to get out there again."

Beltre had two hits Thursday to improve to 5-for-13 (.385) through four games with two doubles, two runs scored and three RBIs.

Seattle will face Josh Outman (1-2, 4.56), who is making his fifth career start.

Outman appeared in six games with Oakland in 2008, his first in the majors. He started four games in September after being acquired by the A's in a trade with Philadelphia and won a starting job this season after Justin Duchscherer went on the disabled list.

The 24-year-old left-hander lost his final start last year and it came against Seattle on Sept. 28, allowing four runs and eight hits in six innings of a 4-3 defeat.

Oakland went 10-9 against Seattle last season, including 6-3 at home.