Mariners send King Felix to hill vs. A's

Felix Hernandez tries for his third win against no defeats this season when the Seattle Mariners play the rubber match of their three- game series with the Oakland Athletics at Safeco Field.
Hernandez has dominated the A's over the course of his young career, going 6-2 against them with a 2.10 earned run average. He struck out a season-high eight batters in beating them earlier this season and is 5-0 against them in his last five starts, while pitching to a 1.22 ERA.
The 22-year-old right-hander, who is 2-0 on the season with a 1.67 ERA, received a no-decision against the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday, as he allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings of a 4-2 Seattle win.
Oakland will counter with right-hander Joe Blanton, who is 1-4 with a 4.32 ERA. Blanton lost his second straight game on Tuesday against Minnesota, as he yielded five runs (four earned) and nine hits in 7 2/3 innings.
Blanton lost to Hernandez and the Mariners two starts ago, but is 7-4 lifetime against them with a 3.20 ERA in 13 starts.
In the second game of this set on Saturday, Erik Bedard returned from a stint on the disabled list to limit the Athletics to two hits over 6 2/3 scoreless innings, as Seattle held on for a 5-3 win.
Bedard (2-0), who last pitched on April 8 against the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg, was sidelined with inflammation in his left hip.
Greg Norton was 3-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored for the Mariners, who snapped a three-game skid. Adrian Beltre doubled and scored two runs, while Yuniesky Betancourt added two hits.
Justin Duchscherer (1-1) gave up two runs on six hits in five innings for the Athletics, whose three-game winning streak came to an end.
Emil Brown finished 2-for-4, while Mike Sweeney notched his second home run of the season.
The Mariners are 17-6 against the Athletics since the start of last season. Oakland, though, has fared pretty well in Seattle over the past few years, going 19-12 at Safeco Field since the start of the 2005 campaign.