Seattle @ Oakland preview

Last Meeting ( May 10, 2015 ) Oakland 3, Seattle 4

When the season began, the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics were expected to battle closely atop the American League West standings. Instead, the teams head into Thursday’s series opener in Oakland looking to avoid the division cellar with the All-Star break fast approaching.

Both teams enter the four-game series with some much-needed optimism as Seattle has won three of its last five and Oakland has gone 22-15 since falling 16 games under .500 on May 22. “We’re a tale of two teams, where we have some big positives and obviously some negatives that have cost us some games,” Athletics manager Bob Melvin told reporters. While Oakland has struggled overall, outfielder Ben Zobrist is hitting .386 over his last 17 games and Josh Reddick recorded his 49th RBI in Wednesday’s 4-1 win over Colorado. Seattle is 3-2 midway through a nine-game road trip that has seen the Mariners’ starting pitchers allow a total of three hits over the last three games covering 21 scoreless innings.

TV: 10:05 p.m. ET, ROOT (Seattle), CSN California (Oakland)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Mariners LH Roenis Elias (4-5, 4.25 ERA) vs. Athletics LH Scott Kazmir (4-5, 2.79)

Elias cruised through three frames against Kansas City last Wednesday but allowed seven runs in the fourth and failed to make it out of the inning. The 26-year-old finished June with a 6.11 ERA in five outings despite recording three quality starts. Elias, who is 1-0 with a 3.18 in two career starts against Oakland, has allowed three or fewer earned runs in 19 of his last 22 starts dating back to the 2014 All-Star break.

Kazmir has been a key part of the Athletics’ resurgence while going 2-2 with a 2.31 ERA over his last six starts, including seven strong innings against Kansas City last Saturday. The 31-year-old has been impressive at home with a 3-2 mark and 1.63 ERA in eight starts at O.co Coliseum. Franklin Gutierrez is 7-for-18 with three home runs against Kazmir, who is 4-4 with a 3.35 ERA in 13 career starts against Seattle.

WALK-OFFS

1. Athletics RHP Sonny Gray (illness) was released from the hospital Wednesday and will return to the team Thursday.

2. Seattle has won five of the first six meetings against Oakland this season.

3. Oakland OF Billy Burns has hit safely in 30 of his last 32 games and leads all major league rookies in hits (73) and stolen bases (16).

PREDICTION: Athletics 5, Mariners 2