Seattle @ Oakland preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 1, 2014 ) Seattle 1, Oakland 6

With slugger Adam Dunn firmly in the mix, the Oakland Athletics look to gain some momentum after a dry spell when they host the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday. Dunn, acquired Sunday in a trade with the Chicago White Sox, homered in his first at-bat as an Athletic to power his new club to a 6-1 victory in Monday's series opener. Oakland scored five times in the first inning after producing a total of four runs in losing four straight against the Los Angeles Angels.

Monday's win pulled the Athletics within 4 1/2 games of the first-place Angels in the American League West and strengthened their hold on the first wild-card spot. Seattle, which has lost four of five, was held to three hits in the series-opening defeat and has scored 14 total runs during its 1-4 swoon. The Mariners are 1 1/2 games behind Detroit for the second wild-card spot.

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

PITCHING MATCHUP: Mariners LH James Paxton (4-1, 1.83 ERA) vs. Athletics RH Sonny Gray (13-7, 3.03)

Paxton was recalled in August and proceeded to go 2-1 with a 1.65 ERA in five starts during the month. He tossed 6 2/3 scoreless innings in a 5-0 win over Texas on Aug. 26, the fourth time in seven major-league starts in which he has finished at least six frames. The 25-year-old has let up four earned runs in 21 1/3 innings on the road.

Gray has recovered from a rough patch in August with back-to-back quality starts, allowing six runs in 15 1/3 innings. However, he has 21 strikeouts against 13 walks in 32 innings over his last five outings. The former first-round pick allowed an unearned run in 7 2/3 frames at Seattle on July 13 and let up just two earned runs over 13 innings in back-to-back victories over the Mariners in April.

WALK-OFFS

1. Mariners All-Star 2B Robinson Cano is 1-for-11 with three strikeouts over his last three games.

2. Oakland is 52-13 when it scores first.

3. The season series is knotted at seven wins apiece and eight of the 14 games have been decided by two runs or fewer.

PREDICTION: Athletics 4, Mariners 3