JP Sears starts as A’s face Mariners

The Oakland Athletics will try to put an end to a four-game skid Monday evening when they begin a three-game series at home against the Seattle Mariners. The A’s suffered a sweep to the Padres to fall to 46-103 on the season. The 103 losses are second most during the franchise’s time in Oakland, trailing only the 1979 club that finished 54-108.

The series is crucial for the Mariners who have lost three-straight games and trail the Texas Rangers by one full game for the final playoff spot. Oakland is 1-9 against Seattle season and dropped two of three in their last meeting at the end of August.

JP Sears will make his 30th start of the season in Monday’s game, which was a stated goal of his before the season. He struggled at the end of August, but has rediscovered his form so far in September and is looking to finish strong. He’s allowed just three runs over 17 innings across his last three starts and hasn’t allowed a home run. That is significant given that he has allowed 31 homers on the season, which is tied for the fourth most in the majors.

Seattle will counter with right-hander Bryan Woo who is looking to build off of a strong outing last time out. Woo allowed four hits and struck out eight over 5 2/3 scoreless innings in his last start against the Angels. He faced the A’s back on August 28 and tossed six scoreless innings to go along with five strikeouts.

Oakland fell behind early and went away quietly in Sunday’s 10-1 loss to the Padres. The A’s finished with just six hits and were 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Brent Rooker had two hits, including his team-best 26th home run of the season. Ryan Noda and Shea Langeliers were a combined 0-for-8 with seven strikeouts.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Monday, September 18, 6:40 p.m. PDT

Location: Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, California

TV: NBCSCA

Streaming: MLB.tv

Radio: A’s Cast, Bloomberg 960 AM / 103.7 HD2