OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Seattle Mariners will hope veteran right-hander Mike Leake continues his fine pitching against the Oakland Athletics when the two American League wild-card hopefuls meet for a second consecutive day on Friday night.
The third-place Mariners (75-59) gained a game on the A's (80-55) in the series opener when Wade LeBlanc rode a five-run first inning to a 7-1 victory that inched Seattle within 4 1/2 games in the battle for second place both in the AL West and AL wild-card race.
The A's not only lost a game to the Mariners but failed to gain ground in their pursuit of first place in the West and the top spot in the wild-card race after Houston (82-52) and the New York Yankees (84-50) had lost earlier in the evening.