Athletics-Mariners Preview

Although the Seattle Mariners are closing out one of franchise's worst seasons this weekend, Ichiro Suzuki has still managed to have a historic year.

Suzuki and the Mariners continue a three-game set against the Oakland Athletics on Saturday.

Seattle (59-101) opened the series against Oakland (75-84) with a 10-8 win on Friday, guaranteeing it won't equal the franchise's worst record, set in 1978 when the Mariners went 56-104. That's likely small consolation for a team that has gone 2-14 since Sept. 11 and suffered its first 100-loss season since 1983.

On Friday, Jose Lopez homered twice -- once in a five-run third inning and again in a five-run fifth -- giving him 17 homers and 89 RBIs for the year.

"When you play every day, every year you learn something different," Lopez said. "I wasn't looking for homers. I was looking to hit the ball hard all the time."

Suzuki, meanwhile, matched Lou Gehrig's major league record with his eighth season of at least 200 hits and 100 runs. He scored for the 100th time in the third inning on Raul Ibanez's single. Gehrig reached those benchmarks in 1927-28, 1930-32, 1934 and 1936-37.

"Unless you hit a lot of home runs, scoring runs is something you can't do on your own," Suzuki told the Mariners' official Web site. "I am thankful to my teammates, and especially thankful to Raul. He is a big part of this record."

Earlier this season, Suzuki reached 3,000 professional hits between the major leagues and Japan. He also achieved 200 hits Sept. 17 for the eighth straight season, matching a big league record.

The Mariners, looking to win consecutive games for the first time since a four-game winning streak Aug. 29-Sept. 1, hand the ball on Saturday to Ryan Rowland-Smith (4-3, 3.39 ERA).

Rowland-Smith has a 2.35 ERA in his last seven starts, but he is only 2-2 during that stretch with the Mariners going 2-5. The left-hander pitched seven innings on Monday against the Angels, allowing two runs -- one earned -- in a 2-1 loss.

Rowland-Smith is 0-1 with a 3.38 ERA in one start and five relief appearances against the A's. He's faced them twice as a reliever and once as a starter this season. He pitched seven innings, allowing one run and four hits in a 2-0 win on Aug. 21.

Oakland, which has lost three straight after winning eight of nine, counters with Greg Smith (7-15, 4.07).

Smith pitched five innings against Texas on Monday, yielding two runs and six hits in a 4-3, 11-inning win.

Smith is 1-1 in his last four starts, but Oakland has won three of those games.

The rookie left-hander has not allowed a run in a combined 12 innings over two starts against Seattle. He has one win while the Athletics have won both of the starts.