Seattle, WA (My Sportsbook) - The Seattle Mariners aim for their fourth straight win when they play the middle contest of a three-game series against the Oakland Athletics tonight at Safeco Field.

In Tuesday's opener, Scott Podsednik finished off a four-run Seattle eighth with a go-ahead single, as the Mariners rallied for an 8-7 victory. Willie Bloomquist and Bret Boone both had RBI doubles in the eighth for the Mariners, who rallied from a 7-2 deficit to win their third straight.

The victory kept Seattle's slim playoff hopes alive, as Anaheim was defeated by Texas Tuesday. With just five games remaining for each team, a Mariners loss or an Angels win would eliminate Seattle from wild card contention.

Despite the loss, Oakland, which leads the AL West by three games over Anaheim, saw its magic number for clinching the division drop to two.

Arthur Rhodes tossed a 1-2-3 ninth to record his second save of the season.

Shigetoshi Hasegawa (8-2) pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief to earn the victory, while Jeff Tam (1-2) suffered the loss for Oakland, which had a five-game winning streak snapped.

Barry Zito allowed four runs -- three earned -- on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings. Ismael Valdes started for Seattle and permitted four runs -- three earned -- on eight hits in four frames.

The A's give the ball to Tim Hudson for tonight's start. The righthander has not lost since June 24 and is 8-0 in his last 10 starts. He has won each of his last three starts after allowing four runs through 23 2/3 innings. He last started on Thursday and yielded three runs on six hits over 7 1/3 innings in a 5-3 win over Anaheim. Oakland is 10-0 in his last 10 starts.

Hudson has gone 2-2 with a 2.88 ERA in five starts against the Mariners this season. He last faced the M's on September 14 and pitched a four-hit shutout in a 1-0 win.

Lifetime, he is 7-4 with a 3.63 ERA versus Seattle. In 15 starts on the road this year, Hudson is 8-5 with a 3.36 ERA.

Countering for the Mariners will be Jamie Moyer, who is 0-2 in his last four starts. In that span, he has allowed 15 runs during 24 2/3 innings. On Thursday, he yielded seven runs on eight hits over four frames in a 12-7 loss to Texas.

Seattle is 0-4 in his last four starts and has gone 1-7 in his last eight starts.

Moyer is 2-2 with a 1.54 ERA in five starts against Oakland this season. He last faced the A's on the 14th and allowed one unearned run on three hits over eight innings in a 1-0 loss against Zito.

For his career, Moyer is 14-9 with an ERA of 4.00 against Oakland. At home this year, he is 5-5 with a 3.22 ERA in 17 starts.

Seattle leads the season series, 10-7. The Mariners are 5-3 against the A's at home this year.