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Mariners, A's open series in Cali

Thu 5th, July 2007

(Sports Network) - Two American League West contenders will close out their respective first halves of the season with a four-game series beginning tonight at Oakland's McAfee Coliseum, where the Athletics will try to gain ground on the Seattle Mariners in the division standings.

Oakland enters this set 4 1/2 games behind the second-place Mariners, with both clubs currently looking up at the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Seattle trails the division-leading Angels by 3 1/2 games at the moment. The Athletics dominated the 2006 series with the Mariners, taking 17 of the 19 matchups between the rivals and winning all nine encounters that took place at the Coliseum. Seattle has had the upper hand so far this year, however, as the Mariners have won four of the five 2007 showdowns with Oakland. The Mariners swept a two-game set at McAfee Coliseum back in April but are just 8-22 as the visitor in this series since 2004. It's been a turbulent week so far for Seattle, as manager Mike Hargrove unexpectedly announced his resignation on Sunday and the club proceeded to lose two of three games to the lowly Kansas City Royals under interim skipper John McLaren. The Mariners averted a sweep, though, behind a terrific performance out of Jarrod Washburn on Thursday. The veteran lefty took a shutout into the ninth inning to lead Seattle to a 4-0 triumph over the Royals. Washburn (8-6) held Kansas City to only four hits through the first eight frames before yielding a single to Esteban German and walking Mark Teahen. J.J. Putz then entered to earn his 24th save of the season, with the All-Star closer inducing a game-ending double-play grounder off the bat of Alex Gordon. All of Seattle's runs came in the first inning, with Jose Guillen delivering a two-RBI single and Adrian Beltre sending two more men home with a double later on. Guillen and Beltre each finished 3-for-4 for the Mariners, who won for the ninth time in their last 11 games. Oakland dropped two of three tests at home to Toronto prior to this series, with the Blue Jays coming through with a 10-3 rout in Thursday's rubber match. Jack Cust had a two-run double for Oakland and Dan Johnson added an RBI single in defeat. A's starter Joe Kennedy (2-7) failed to get out of the first inning, with the left-hander surrendering four runs and walking four batters before being lifted. The Athletics should get a better showing on the mound tonight, as scheduled starter Chad Gaudin has emerged as one of the AL's better pitchers during a breakthrough 2007 campaign. Gaudin currently ranks fourth in the AL with a 2.92 earned run average and delivered a dominating performance at Yankee Stadium in his most recent start. The right-hander took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and gave up only a Johnny Damon single and three walks over seven shutout frames to defeat New York on Saturday. The 24-year-old halted a four-start winless streak and had lost back-to-back appearances prior to Saturday's triumph. Gaudin has not faced Seattle yet this season but is 1-0 with a 5.89 ERA in nine career games (two starts) against tonight's opponent. The Mariners counter with veteran Miguel Batista, who was also sharp in his last trip to the hill. The Dominican native limited Toronto to one run on five hits over 6 1/3 innings to lead Seattle to an 8-3 decision last Saturday. This will be Batista's third start versus Oakland this season. He was rocked for eight runs and 10 hits in just 4 2/3 innings of work to lose his 2007 debut on April 4, but rebounded to defeat the A's at the Coliseum later that month. The 36-year-old allowed two runs over 5 1/3 innings in that game. For his career Batista is 3-3 with a 6.31 ERA in 15 games, including eight starts, against Oakland.