A's go for sixth straight win versus Mariners

OAKLAND, Calif. -- One pitcher who has been historically good and another who has been continually bad are set to duel Sunday when the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics complete a four-game series.

A's right-hander Andrew Triggs (3-0) will be seeking to extend a streak of 17 2/3 innings without allowing an earned run to open the season when he makes his fourth start.

He'll be opposed by Mariners righty Yovani Gallardo (0-1), who not only has yet to win at the Oakland Coliseum, but has never beaten the A's anywhere in six career starts.

The A's will be looking for four-game sweep of the Mariners in the series finale, having won the first three games 9-6, 3-1 and 4-3.

Triggs will take the mound Sunday as the only major-leaguer to have started three games this season without allowing an earned run. His 17 2/3-inning run is the longest in A's franchise history.

The Mariners hammered Triggs for five runs and six hits in two innings of relief in Seattle last May.

But the Mariners haven't been nearly as potent on the road as at home this season. Their 1-9 road record is mostly a product of scoring just 3.2 runs per game, as opposed to having averaged 5.2 in their home contests.

"We're not a team that's supposed to lose that many games," insisted Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano, who belted his 34th career road home run in Saturday's loss. "I mean, you can lose, but we should be playing better on the road. We just have to keep fighting. We can't hang our head and wait to see what happens."

Triggs will be pitching for the second time on the A's week-long homestand. He outdueled Yu Darvish of the Texas Rangers 4-2 Tuesday night, allowing just three hits and two unearned runs in six innings.

The A's haven't lost since, stringing together their first five-game winning streak since last June.

"Pretty amazing," A's manager Bob Melvin gushed of Triggs after Tuesday's game. "To do what he's done to this point, I'm not going to say it's a surprise, but it's definitely welcome."

The Mariners would welcome a better start from Gallardo, who has allowed at least three runs in no more than six innings in all three of his starts since being acquired from Baltimore for Seth Smith in January.

If the veteran is going to turn things around, it's going to have to come in a stadium at which he has never had any success in his career, going 0-2 with a 3.71 ERA in three starts.

The 31-year-old has won games at 26 different major-league ballparks in his 11-year career.

And Gallardo has beaten every major-league team except four in his career. He hopes to erase the A's from a list that also includes the Rangers, Los Angeles Angels and Colorado Rockies after having gone 0-5 with a 5.29 ERA in six career starts vs. Oakland.

The Mariners have been outscored 20-6 in Gallardo's three starts this season, including 5-0 at home on Tuesday night when he gave up four runs and nine hits in six innings against Miami.