Seattle, WA (Sports Network) - Jack Cust, Mark Ellis and Chris Carter all hit home runs to support seven strong innings from Brett Anderson as Oakland downed Seattle, 5-3, in the continuation of a season-ending four-game series.
Ellis walked, drove in two runs and extended his hitting streak to 12 games, while Cust went 2-for-4 for theAthletics, who have taken the first three games of the set after a six-game slide.
Anderson (7-6) yielded two runs -- one earned -- on eight hits while walking one and striking out six to end the season with his 18th career victory, the 3rd most wins by a pitcher before the age of 23 in Oakland franchise history.
"My stuff was better today than the last two times I pitched," Anderson said. "I was able to battle, and was able to minimize the damage when I got into some jams. I kept us in the game and went as deep as possible and battled through to get the win."
David Pauley (4-9) allowed four runs on four hits and a pair of walks with two strikeouts over seven frames to absorb the loss for the Mariners, who have dropped four in a row to reach the 100-loss plateau for the fifth time in franchise history.
"I know that 100 losses is nothing that anybody wants but I think it's not easy, but anything that's that tough mentally will make you stronger in the future," said Seattle manager Daren Brown. "I know I haven't been here all year, but I feel for the guys that have been. It's tough but I also think it is a learning experience."
Craig Breslow took the hill in the ninth with a three-run lead and allowed a one-out solo home run to Michael Saunders that trimmed the lead to 5-3.
Josh Wilson then reached on a throwing error by shortstop Cliff Pennington before Ichiro Suzuki bounced out to advance Wilson to second base. Chone Figgins then flied out to end the game as Breslow recorded his fourth save of the season.
The A's broke up a scoreless game in the fourth with back-to-back home runs from Ellis and Cust.
The hosts halved the lead in the bottom of the frame on a run-scoring double by Justin Smoak, who extended his hitting streak to a career-best nine games.
Carter's two-run homer in the fifth extended the visitors lead to 4-1 before Greg Halman's infield single scored Smoak in the sixth to cut the lead to two.
Rajai Davis used his speed to manufacture a run in the eighth. He led off with a single against Dan Cortes, stole two bases and scored on Ellis' sacrifice fly.
Oakland leads the season series, 12-6, and has won five of nine in Seattle. Anderson won for the first time in five career turns at Safeco Field and is 3-1 in five starts against Seattle this year...He allowed three earned runs in 33 2/3 frames against the Mariners this year and became just the third pitcher to make at least four starts against them and post an earned run average under 1.00...John Lackey (2007) and Jered Weaver (2010) are the other two to do so. Ellis has 19 hits during his hitting streak...Davis has hit safely in five straight and has a career-high 50 stolen bases...Smoak went 2-for-4 and has 14 hits during his hitting streak.