Athletics-Mariners Preview

If the Oakland Athletics are going to be serious contenders in the AL West, they're probably going to have to find a way to beat the Seattle Mariners.

The surprising A's will look for their sixth win in the last seven games on Friday, but they'll have to end a six-game losing streak to the Mariners as they begin a three-game series at Safeco Field.

The A's seemed to be in for a rebuilding year after they traded away pitcher Dan Haren in the offseason, but now that they're off to a 14-9 start, the mindset may have changed in Oakland. They acquired Frank Thomas and Rajai Davis this week to bolster their offense, and they have the AL's best team ERA at 3.19.

"I'm excited about what we're doing over here," said Davis, who went 3-for-4 Thursday in his first game with Oakland after he was designated for assignment by San Francisco.

Thomas also played in Thursday's 11-2 win over Minnesota, going 0-for-3 with two walks. The last time the 39-year-old was with Oakland, in 2006, the A's went 17-2 against the Mariners, running off a 15-game winning streak in the series.

But last year, Seattle turned the tables by taking 14 of 19. The Mariners (11-12) also swept a two-game set in Oakland earlier this month, outscoring the A's by a combined 12-3.

After that series, Oakland manager Bob Geren said he was trying to "keep everybody encouraged" after a third straight loss, and Mariners manager John McLaren talked about his team "starting to build a little momentum" with three straight wins.

But instead, the Mariners have dropped their last two series, losing their last two games at home to Baltimore.

The A's have won five of six, scoring 44 runs over that span after totaling just seven in the previous five games. This road trip could go a long way toward determining their legitimacy as a contender, as they play four games at the Los Angeles Angels next week.

Against the Twins on Thursday, Donnie Murphy hit his first two home runs of the season and Kurt Suzuki, Mark Ellis and Mike Sweeney each had two hits.

"Looking at the lineup, in the 3-4 holes you have Mike Sweeney and Frank Thomas -- that's pretty good," Murphy said. "I had a feeling we were going to score some runs."

Pitching hasn't been a problem for Oakland, even with Haren in Arizona and Rich Harden and Justin Duchscherer both injured. A large reason has been Dana Eveland, who has already doubled his career win total this year.

Duchscherer will return Saturday, but first Eveland (2-1, 1.90 ERA) will face Seattle for the first time. The left-hander has permitted just five earned runs in 23 2-3 innings, and he allowed one run on three hits in 5 2-3 innings Sunday against Kansas City -- but still wasn't satisfied.

"I want to pitch in the seventh and eighth innings," Eveland said. "To not make it through six is unacceptable for me. It doesn't work."

Before Erik Bedard returns from injury Saturday, Miguel Batista will pitch Friday for the Mariners. Batista (2-2, 4.38) has won consecutive starts and is coming off his best outing of 2008, when he threw 7 2-3 shutout innings against the Angels, scattering eight hits and striking out eight.

"Some of those hits weren't hit hard," Batista said. "I was trying to force them to swing the bat."

The Mariners are trying to avoid their first three-game slide since they dropped four straight against Baltimore from April 4-8. After Thursday's 8-7 loss to the Orioles -- in which the Mariners blew a five-run lead -- Seattle went 1-6 against Baltimore and is 10-6 against all other opponents.

"When you've got a 5-0 lead you've got to slam the door and get it done. We didn't do that," McLaren said.