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May 27, 2009 - 7:11 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

Seattle (21-26) at Oakland (18-25), 3:35 p.m. EDT

It took the Oakland Athletics almost two months to win three straight games. Recording their first three-game sweep of the season might be an even tougher challenge with Erik Bedard standing in the way.

Bedard looks to continue his recent dominance of the A's while trying to prevent the Seattle Mariners from losing a season-high sixth straight road game Wednesday.

Oakland (18-25) has benefited from solid pitching and timely hitting to take the first two games of the series and win three in a row for the first time in 2009. Jason Giambi's two-run single highlighted a four-run seventh inning in Oakland's 4-3 comeback victory Tuesday.

"We've all been playing ball for a while," said Tuesday's winning pitcher, Dallas Braden. "We all know what a streak feels like, but we don't want to get too excited about it."

That's because Oakland is last in the majors in slugging (.356), and near the bottom in runs (193) and batting average (.244). That makes facing Bedard (2-2, 2.64 ERA) a daunting task as the Mariners ace tries for a fourth straight victory over the last-place A's.

Bedard, 3-3 with a 3.07 ERA in nine starts against Oakland, has not allowed a run in his last 16 innings versus the A's. He gave up three hits and struck out seven in 8 1-3 innings of a 1-0 victory at Oakland on April 12.

The left-hander has allowed one run and six hits while striking out 22 batters in 22 innings over his last three starts against the A's.

Making his first start after missing one due to hamstring tightness, Bedard yielded a pair of solo homers and struck out six while throwing 95 pitches in five innings of a 3-0 loss to the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday.

"His pitch count kept him to five innings, but his (right) hamstring was fine," manager Don Wakamatsu told the Mariners' official Web site.

Bedard, who has not allowed more than three runs in any of his eight starts this year, could use some support from a club that's last in the majors with 174 runs and has scored four in this series.

The Mariners (21-26) have batted .201 while being limited to 12 runs during their five-game road losing streak. They're 2-12 on the road after winning six in a row away from home.

Seattle, which placed catcher Kenji Johjima on the disabled list Tuesday with a broken toe, is likely to be without designated hitter Mike Sweeney after he left the team's last contest with back spasms.

Ichiro Suzuki singled and drove in a run to extend his hitting streak to 20 games. Suzuki is batting .375 during that span and is 10 for 25 (.400) against the A's this season.

Oakland rookie Trevor Cahill (2-4, 4.62) faces Seattle for the third time this season. He is 0-1 with a 1.38 ERA versus the Mariners, and he allowed one run in six innings of a 3-2 road win against them May 2.

The 21-year-old Cahill gave up two runs and six hits while striking out five in a career-high 7 1-3 innings of a 2-1 loss at Arizona on Friday. Despite losing his second straight start, the right-hander pitched better after allowing seven runs in a season-low 2 1-3 innings of an 11-7 loss at Detroit on May 17.

"I've always been pretty good at putting the past behind me and maintaining the same confidence," Cahill told the A's official Web site.

Oakland has won three of four against Seattle after losing the first four meetings this season.