Seattle @ Oakland preview

Seattle at Oakland

Last Meeting ( Apr 14, 2010 ) Oakland 2, Seattle 4

The Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics have struggled to find both runs and wins in May.

They might want to take a lesson in resiliency from Athletics reliever Cedrick Bowers as they open their two-game series on Monday in Oakland.

The 32-year-old Bowers, who was called up from Triple-A Sacramento on Sunday, was drafted by Tampa Bay in 1996 but has pitched in just five major-league games.

He spent eight seasons in the Rays’ farm system, never getting a call to the majors. He played in Japan from 2004-2006 and in Korea in 2007. In 2008, he signed a minor-league deal with the Colorado Rockies and finally made his debut on July 2, pitching five games and just 6 2/3 innings with a 13.50 ERA.

Now, 14 seasons after he first became a pro, Bowers is back in the majors.

The Mariners and A’s can only hope they have such a turnaround.

Seattle is the lowest scoring team in the majors, and Oakland has lost five in a row and scored just five runs in the slide. Luckily, the AL West is the weakest division in baseball and they remain solidly in contention.

Four-fifths of the Mariners’ starting rotation has pitched well in May, save for left-hander Ryan Rowland-Smith, who will start Monday's game.

The “Hyphen” as he is known, is 0-3 this season with a 6.44 ERA and has an atrocious 11.05 ERA in his last two starts. He lasted just three innings May 12 against the Baltimore Orioles, allowing three runs on seven hits. In his May 6 start against the Tampa Bay Rays, he allowed six runs in 4 1/3 innings.

Another poor outing on Monday could be the end of Rowland-Smith’s time in the rotation.

He will face fellow left-hander Gio Gonzalez, who has also struggling recently. Gonzalez gave up four runs and nine hits in four-plus innings in a 10-1 loss Wednesday at Texas. Gonzalez allowed two runs in 4 2/3 innings in Oakland’s 4-2 loss to Seattle April 14, but got a no-decision. Gonzalez is 1-1 with a 4.15 ERA in four starts against the Mariners.

Seattle third baseman Jose Lopez is a .500 hitter against Gonzalez with a homer and four RBIs and also is batting .370 against the A’s this season. But Lopez has been one of many Mariners to lag, hitting just .193 in May. He has gone 13 games without an RBI.

Sunday was a busy transaction day for the Athletics.

They put right-hander Justin Duchscherer back on the 15-day disabled list one day after he came off. He quite possibly could have surgery on his left hip and be done for the season. Duchscherer was scheduled to start Saturday against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim but was a late scratch because of inflammation in his left hip.

The A’s also sent catcher Josh Donaldson to Triple-A Sacramento and reinstated catcher Kurt Suzuki (rib cage) from the DL among other moves.