(Photo credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images)

The Seattle Mariners would prefer to forget their just-concluded nine-game trip.

After going 2-7 against Baltimore, the New York Mets and Philadelphia, the Mariners will return home Friday night to face the Athletics in the opener of a three-game series.

The Mariners have lost five games in a row to drop from the top of the American League's wild-card race into the third and final spot, only two games ahead of Kansas City.

Not only were the Mariners just swept by the Phillies, they led for just a half-inning in the three-game series, on Julio Rodriguez's first-inning homer in an 11-2 loss Wednesday.

'This game is tough. They're a really good team and they beat us,' Rodriguez said. 'But I feel like the key is how we respond as a team. It's easy to go through a time when it's easy, when everybody's playing good and all that, but it's, how do we respond to the situation? Every team goes through things like that. It's baseball.

'... We're going to leave everything here, and then we're going to reset and play our game in Seattle.'

If the Mariners have a reason for optimism, it's because they are 37-25 at T-Mobile Park this season and won nine of 10 games on their last homestand.

'When you're in this game any amount of time, you've gone through things like this, and it can turn back the other way very quickly,' Seattle manager Dan Wilson said. 'It'll be good to get home. It'll be good to get back in our home ballpark, get our home fans back and start getting back to work and doing what we do.'

Wednesday's game marked one full season at the helm for Wilson after he replaced Scott Servais. Wilson has an 89-73 record, the best 162-game stretch for a first-year manager in franchise history.

'It's gone by quickly,' he said. '(When) everything is sort of new, in a way, you still kind of going through a lot of firsts. And when it's like that, it's kind of new and exciting.'

The A's will bring some good vibes to Seattle, as they have won eight of their past 11 games and are coming off a three-game sweep of host Minnesota.

'This is an in-division team that we've played really well,' A's manager Mark Kotsay said about facing the Mariners. ... It'll be a fun series to be a part of, and hopefully we can continue momentum.'

The Athletics are 5-5 against Seattle this season, including 2-1 in the teams' most recent series at the end of last month.

On Thursday, Tyler Soderstrom went 4-for-4 and extended his hitting streak to 19 games in the Athletics' 8-3 victory against the Twins. Lawrence Butler added a three-run double, and Nick Kurtz hit his 26th homer of the season.

'It shows I'm sticking to my approach,' Soderstrom said after going 7-for-11 in the series with two doubles and a home run. 'You know, it can be easy to get away from that sometimes, so I've got to stay true to my zone.'

Just as important to Kotsay are the plays Soderstrom has made in left field. Until this season, Soderstrom had only caught and played first base in the pros.

'Tyler's had a lot of change this year,' Kotsay said. 'It's the growth that he's had as a left fielder, never having played in the outfield. Some of the plays he's made are reflective of somebody that's been out there for a while.'

In Friday's series opener, the A's are scheduled to start rookie right-hander Luis Morales (1-0, 1.86 ERA), who will make his fourth appearance since being called up Aug. 1 from Triple-A Las Vegas. The Mariners haven't announced their starter.

Morales, who will face the Mariners for the first time, defeated the Los Angeles Angels 7-2 Saturday in West Sacramento, Calif. He gave up one run on five hits over five innings.

--Field Level Media