Recap: Seattle vs. Oakland
Sports Network | August 21, 2008
Seattle, WA (Sports Network) - Greg Smith hurled six shutout innings and the Oakland Athletics topped the Seattle Mariners 2-0 in the opener of a four-game series between two struggling AL-West clubs.
Smith (6-12) finally got a win after going 0-6 in his last eight starts despite giving up just five runs over his past three trips to the mound. The lefty allowed just four hits and three walks with one strikeout over six innings. Joey Devine pitched a perfect seventh while Brad Ziegler tossed the final two frames for his fourth save of the season.
Emil Brown hit a solo home run while Carlos Gonzalez had an RBI single in the ninth for Oakland, which has split its last four games.
The Athletics will look to make it two in a row Friday looking to move one step closer to snapping a streak of 11 straight losing series. The last time Oakland won a series, it was against Seattle in a four-game set July 7-10.
Meanwhile, Seattle hasn't fared much better dropping its seventh straight contest with just one series win in its last 12. Ichiro Suzuki was 3-for-4 while Ryan Rowland-Smith (2-2) was the hard-luck loser. The left-hander allowed just four hits including Brown's solo shot with three walks and six strikeouts over seven frames.
Brown connected on a two-out offering from Rowland-Smith in the sixth for a 1-0 lead and the Mariners appeared to be poised to strike back in the bottom half when Suzuki led off with a double. Miguel Cairo botched a sacrifice attempt with a pop-up and Raul Ibanez lined out for the second out. Adrian Beltre was issued a free pass and Smith escaped by inducing Jose Lopez into a fielder's choice groundout.
Sean Green walked Eric Patterson with one away in the ninth and Cesar Jimenez came in to face Gonzalez. Patterson swiped second and took third on first baseman Jeremy Reed's throwing error. Gonzalez then gave Ziegler a two-run cushion with a single to center.
Oakland leads the season series 6-4 and took two of three at Safeco Field April 25-27...Oakland is an MLB-worst 7-25 since the All-Star break and has not won back-to-back games since July 10, a span of 33 contests...Seattle is just 9-23 since the break...Friday's scheduled starters are Gio Gonzalez (1-2) for Oakland and Ryan Feierabend (0-1) for Seattle...Oakland DH Frank Thomas was tossed by home plate umpire Bill Hohn for arguing balls and strikes in the sixth...Oakland placed pitchers Justin Duchscherer and Sean Gallagher on the 15-day disabled list Thursday and recalled pitchers Dana Eveland and Dan Meyer from Triple-A Sacramento. The team also announced infielder Wes Bankston cleared waivers and was outrighted to Sacramento...The A's infamous streak marks the first time that the team has dropped 11 consecutive series since moving to Oakland in 1968. The Athletics last lost 11 straight series from August 5-September 4, 1960 when the franchise was based in Kansas City.
