Seattle Mariners at Oakland Athletics 3:35 pm Recap | Boxscore OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- The Oakland Athletics send Mark Mulder to the mound on Thursday as they try to complete a three-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners at Network Associated Coliseum. The Athletics have the most potent starting trio in the majors with Tim Hudson, Barry Zito and Mulder. After Hudson and Zito did their part in the first two games of the series, Oakland is trying to sweep Seattle for the first time since September 21-23, 2001. Mulder (NR) struggled early in 2002 but finished at 19-7 with a 3.47 ERA in 30 starts. He finished fourth in the American League in wins and was eighth with 159 strikeouts. The 25-year-old lefthander was dominant in the second half of the season, going 10-2 with a 3.08 ERA in 16 starts. Mulder won his only start against the Mariners last season and is 2-2 with a 3.89 ERA in six career starts against them. He is 24-8 with a 3.23 ERA in 41 lifetime starts at Network Associates Coliseum. Seattle hands the ball to Joel Pineiro (NR), who enters the season with a starting spot for the first time. Pineiro went 14-7 with a 3.24 ERA in 37 appearances, including 28 starts, last season. He is 21-9 with a 3.08 ERA in 62 career appearances. The 24-year-old righthander was 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA in four appearances - two starts - against the A's last season. He is 2-1 with a 2.60 ERA in six lifetime appearances against Oakland. The Athletics have outscored the Mariners, 13-3, in the first two games of the series. Miguel Tejada hit his first homer of the season in an 8-3 victory on Wednesday. Eric Chavez also homered and Zito pitched six strong innings.