A nine-game losing streak is bound to have consequences and
for Bob Geren, the fallout resulted in the loss of his job as manager of the
Oakland Athletics.

With Geren relieved of his duties early on Thursday, it will be Bob Melvin
who guides the A’s tonight in the opener of a four-game series with the
Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field.

Oakland’s current slide is the club’s longest since it dropped 10 in a row
from July 28-Aug. 7, 2008 and was extended with Wednesday’s 3-2 setback to
Baltimore. That was enough for team vice president and general manager Billy
Beane, who made the switch from Geren to Melvin on an interim basis for the
rest of this season on Thursday.

Geren had served as the Athletics’ manager since Nov. 17, 2006 and went
334-376 in his four-plus seasons at the helm. Oakland went 27-36 under Geren
this year and currently sits last in the American League West, eight games
back of first place.

In Wednesday’s loss, Coco Crisp notched a sacrifice fly and Jemile Weeks
picked up his first major-league hit, a third-inning double, while finishing
2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored.

“We need to play better,” Geren said. “First pitch on — every single inning.”

The task of turning the A’s around now falls to Melvin, who has previously
served as a major league manager with Seattle (2003-04) and Arizona (2005-09),
and is the Diamondbacks’ all-time winningest manager with a 337-340 mark.

Getting the call for the A’s this evening in Melvin’s debut will be righty
Trevor Cahill, who is 6-3 with a 2.65 earned run average, but is winless in
his last five starts. Cahill was awful his last time out in Boston, as he
allowed five runs and eight hits in seven innings, but escaped without a
decision in his team’s 9-8 loss.

That outing followed up a loss to New York that saw him surrender four runs in
six innings. Cahill’s loss that day was actually the start of the A’s
drought.

Cahill’s skid started with a loss to the White Sox on May 15. He is 1-2
in seven starts against them with a 3.70 ERA.

The White Sox were denied a sweep in their three-game set with the Seattle
Mariners on Wednesday, as they dropped a 7-4, 10-inning decision.

Sergio Santos (2-2) took the loss when he allowed the go-ahead runs to cross
the plate in Chicago’s third defeat in five contests.

Carlos Quentin went deep twice for the White Sox, which accounted for three of
their four runs.

“I think it was a good series. Obviously, you want to pick up that last
(game),” said Chicago second baseman Gordon Beckham.

Tonight, Chicago will rely on left-handed veteran Mark Buehrle, who has won
four of his last five decisions. Buehrle defeated the Detroit Tigers on
Friday, holding them to three runs and 10 hits in six innings, running his
record to 5-4 to go along with a 3.95 ERA.

Buehrle beat the A’s back on May 15, but is a mere 5-13 lifetime against them
with a 3.73 ERA in 28 games, 24 of which have been starts.

Chicago has split its six games with the A’s this season.

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CHICAGO — The Seattle Mariners were having trouble scoring runs in Chicago until the sixth inning of series finale.

Miguel Olivo drove in three runs, including a go-ahead two-run double in the 10th inning, and the Mariners beat the White Sox 7-4 on Wednesday night.

“(Olivo) has always been a guy that’s gotten big hits,” Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. “I’ve been on the other side against him for a lot of years and he’s a step-up kind of guy.”

Justin Smoak started the winning rally with a leadoff bloop double off White Sox closer Sergio Santos (2-2). Adam Kennedy drew a walk, then Olivo — who had a solo homer in the eighth against his former team — drove in both runners with a grounder just inside of third base and into the left-field corner.

“(Wedge) trusts me a lot and I don’t want to let him down,” Olivo said. “I just focused more and saw better pitches to hit.”

Seattle ended a 10-game losing streak at U.S. Cellular Field and salvaged the finale of the three-game series. The Mariners have played 32 games decided by two runs or fewer this season, going 16-16 in those contests.

“The guys showed up and got after it,” Wedge said. “We ran into a little bump in the road, but how you react to it means everything to me and I know it means everything to (the players).”

White Sox right fielder Carlos Quentin homered twice, hitting a solo shot in the first off Jason Vargas and a tying two-run shot in the eighth off reliever Jamey Wright.

Vargas said the home run pitch he threw to Quentin was well-placed.

“It went where I wanted it to go,” Vargas said. “He just put a good swing on it.”

Aaron Laffey (1-1) threw a scoreless inning to earn the win and Brandon League pitched a perfect 10th for his AL-leading 17th save of the season.

Vargas pitched 7 1-3 strong innings, but gave way to reliever Wright after allowing a single to Alexei Ramirez with one out in the eighth. Wright fell behind Quentin, who hit a 3-1 pitch into the left-field bleachers, tying the score at 4-all.

“When Carlos is where he is right now, he can carry a ballclub for a little while,” White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. “Hopefully he stays there for a few days. It’s fun to see him not swinging at many bad pitches.”

Vargas, who three a shutout against Toronto in his last start, allowed three runs, seven hits and one walk while striking out four.

“He pitched a heck of a ballgame,” Wedge said. “I didn’t want him to face the middle of the order again. He worked pretty hard his last start and we thought that was enough. It didn’t work out — Jamey had another tough night —-but everybody else stepped up and picked him up.”

The Mariners scored just one run in each of the first two games of the series, and White Sox starter Gavin Floyd cruised through the first five innings on Wednesday and extended his scoreless streak against the Mariners to 27 innings.

Seattle finally broke through in the sixth, scoring three runs to snap Floyd’s streak and take a 3-1 lead. Franklin Gutierrez’s two-run double highlighted the inning and Kennedy drove in the other run on a grounder.

That was the last inning for Floyd, who threw six innings and allowed five hits, three runs and three walks and struck out three.

Chicago pulled within a run on Gordon Beckham’s two-out RBI single in the bottom of seventh.

The Mariners tacked on a run in the eighth when Olivo’s homer made it 4-2. Olivo also scored Seattle’s last run, when he came home on Gutierrez’s squeeze bunt in the 10th.

Quentin erased that lead in the bottom of the inning.

“(Quentin) is just a professional hitter,” Vargas said. “He frustrates me as much as I frustrate him. … He puts you in a position where you have to come to him. You just try to keep guys off base for when he comes to the plate.”

The White Sox slugger came in leading the majors in extra-base hits (35) and doubles (20). His eighth-inning homer was his 17th of the season, and gave him 13 career multi-homer games, including three this season.

Chicago got to Vargas in the first inning. Quentin hit a 1-2 pitch into the back of the White Sox bullpen in left field, extending his hitting streak to 10 games.

Vargas retired the next nine Chicago batters, before Paul Konerko doubled in the fourth.

“I was pleased with the way I was able to throw the fastball, especially early,” Vargas said. “That kind of set the tone for me.”

NOTES: The White Sox placed RHP Jake Peavy on the 15-day disabled list (retroactive to Monday) with a mild groin strain. Peavy, who left his most recent start after four innings because of the injury, was replaced on the roster by RHP Lucas Harrell, who was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte. … Alex Rios was back in the starting lineup on Wednesday after sitting for three games for what White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen called a “mental break.” Rios is hitting .199 on the season. … Suzuki played his 1,353rd career game in right field for the Mariners, breaking Jay Buhner’s franchise record. … Jeff Marquez, designated for assignment on June 5 by the White Sox, was claimed off waivers by the Yankees on Wednesday.

CHICAGO  — Sergio Santos knows there will be days like this.

Lucky for him, they are few and far between.

Miguel Olivo drove in three runs, including a go-ahead two-run double in the 10th inning, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago White Sox 7-4 on Wednesday night.

The Mariners tagged Santos (2-2) with three runs in the 10th, only the second time Santos has yielded a run in 24 appearances this season. He gave up four runs against the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 20. The right-hander has a 2.10 ERA this season.

“I felt good and I felt strong, I just didn’t feel sharp,” Santos said. “I didn’t feel like I had a good feel for any of my pitches except the changeup. You have to fight through it and find a way.”

Justin Smoak started the winning rally with a leadoff bloop double. White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen ironically had the outfield playing deep in order to prevent any extra-base hits.

“You don’t complain when they hit a ball close to the wall when you’re playing no doubles and they catch it. It’s part of the game,” Santos said. “I could have helped myself out and thrown more strikes and gotten pitches over for strikes. I didn’t help myself out at all and just didn’t have it today. They put the bat on the ball and they scored.”

Adam Kennedy walked, then Olivo — who had a solo homer in the eighth against his former team — drove in both runners with a grounder just inside third base and into the left-field corner.

White Sox right fielder Carlos Quentin homered twice, a solo shot in the first off Jason Vargas and a tying two-run shot in the eighth off Jamey Wright.

Quentin homered Tuesday night off Seattle ace Felix Hernandez. He is 13 for 35 with five homers and 13 RBIs during his 10-game hitting streak.

“When Carlos is what he is right now, he can carry a ballclub for a little while,” Guillen said. “He’s been swinging the bat pretty good for a few days. It’s fun to see him not swing at that many bad pitches.”

Aaron Laffey (1-1) threw a scoreless inning to earn the win and Brandon League pitched a perfect 10th for his AL-leading 17th save.

Seattle ended a 10-game losing streak at U.S. Cellular Field and salvaged the finale of a three-game series. The Mariners have played 32 games decided by two runs or fewer this season, going 16-16.

Vargas, who threw a shutout in his last start, went 7 1-3 innings, but gave way to Wright after allowing a single to Alexei Ramirez with one out in the eighth. Wright fell behind Quentin, who hit a 3-1 pitch into the bleachers in left, tying it 4-all.

Vargas allowed three runs, seven hits and one walk while striking out four.

“He’s got four pitches and he can command them all,” Chicago’s Gordon Beckham said. “He was throwing in well and when a lefty can throw in to righties, that means he’s doing pretty well.”

White Sox starter Gavin Floyd cruised until Seattle scored three runs in the sixth. He extended his scoreless streak against the Mariners to 27 innings, but came out after losing the streak and the lead. He threw six innings and allowed five hits, three runs and three walks and struck out three.

Franklin Gutierrez’s two-run double highlighted Seattle’s sixth. Kennedy drove in the other run on a grounder. The Mariners tacked on a run in the eighth when Olivo’s homer made it 4-2.

Quentin erased that lead in the bottom of the inning.

The White Sox slugger came in leading the majors in extra-base hits (35) and doubles (20). His eighth-inning homer was his 17th of the season, and gave him 13 career multihomer games, including three this season.

Vargas was coming off a shutout against Toronto in his last start, but the White Sox got to him in the first inning. Quentin hit a 1-2 pitch into the back of the White Sox bullpen in left, extending his hitting streak to 10 games.

Seattle finally broke through in the sixth. Brendan Ryan and Smoak started the rally with singles, giving the Mariners runners on the corners with no outs. Kennedy’s grounder brought home Ryan, breaking Floyd’s streak.

Carlos Peguero worked Floyd for a walk, then Gutierrez’s double to left gave Seattle a 3-1 lead.

Chicago trimmed the advantage to one on Beckham’s two-out single in the bottom of seventh, which scored Brent Lillibridge.

NOTES: The White Sox placed RHP Jake Peavy on the 15-day DL (retroactive to Monday) with a mild groin strain. Peavy, who left his most recent start after four innings because of the injury, was replaced on the roster by RHP Lucas Harrell, who was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte. … The Mariners recalled Carp from Triple-A Tacoma on Wednesday and optioned OF Mike Wilson to Tacoma. Mariners manager Eric Wedge said that he expects to play Carp 3-4 times a week. … Alex Rios was back in the starting lineup on Wednesday after sitting for three games for what White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen called a “mental break.” Rios is hitting .199. … Ichiro Suzuki played his 1,353rd career game in right field for the Mariners, breaking Jay Buhner’s franchise record. … White Sox reliever Jeff Marquez, who was designated for assignment on June 5, was claimed off waivers by the Yankees on Wednesday.

Sergio Santos knows there will be days like this.

Lucky for him, they are few and far between.

Miguel Olivo drove in three runs, including a go-ahead two-run double in the 10th inning, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago White Sox 7-4 on Wednesday night.

The Mariners tagged Santos (2-2) with three runs in the 10th, only the second time Santos has yielded a run in 24 appearances this season. He gave up four runs against the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 20. The right-hander has a 2.10 ERA this season.

“I felt good and I felt strong, I just didn’t feel sharp,” Santos said. “I didn’t feel like I had a good feel for any of my pitches except the changeup. You have to fight through it and find a way.”

Justin Smoak started the winning rally with a leadoff bloop double. White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen ironically had the outfield playing deep in order to prevent any extra-base hits.

“You don’t complain when they hit a ball close to the wall when you’re playing no doubles and they catch it. It’s part of the game,” Santos said. “I could have helped myself out and thrown more strikes and gotten pitches over for strikes. I didn’t help myself out at all and just didn’t have it today. They put the bat on the ball and they scored.”

Adam Kennedy walked, then Olivo — who had a solo homer in the eighth against his former team — drove in both runners with a grounder just inside third base and into the left-field corner.

White Sox right fielder Carlos Quentin homered twice, a solo shot in the first off Jason Vargas and a tying two-run shot in the eighth off Jamey Wright.

Quentin homered Tuesday night off Seattle ace Felix Hernandez. He is 13 for 35 with five homers and 13 RBIs during his 10-game hitting streak.

“When Carlos is what he is right now, he can carry a ballclub for a little while,” Guillen said. “He’s been swinging the bat pretty good for a few days. It’s fun to see him not swing at that many bad pitches.”

Aaron Laffey (1-1) threw a scoreless inning to earn the win and Brandon League pitched a perfect 10th for his AL-leading 17th save.

Seattle ended a 10-game losing streak at U.S. Cellular Field and salvaged the finale of a three-game series. The Mariners have played 32 games decided by two runs or fewer this season, going 16-16.

Vargas, who threw a shutout in his last start, went 7 1-3 innings, but gave way to Wright after allowing a single to Alexei Ramirez with one out in the eighth. Wright fell behind Quentin, who hit a 3-1 pitch into the bleachers in left, tying it 4-all.

Vargas allowed three runs, seven hits and one walk while striking out four.

“He’s got four pitches and he can command them all,” Chicago’s Gordon Beckham said. “He was throwing in well and when a lefty can throw in to righties, that means he’s doing pretty well.”

White Sox starter Gavin Floyd cruised until Seattle scored three runs in the sixth. He extended his scoreless streak against the Mariners to 27 innings, but came out after losing the streak and the lead. He threw six innings and allowed five hits, three runs and three walks and struck out three.

Franklin Gutierrez’s two-run double highlighted Seattle’s sixth. Kennedy drove in the other run on a grounder. The Mariners tacked on a run in the eighth when Olivo’s homer made it 4-2.

Quentin erased that lead in the bottom of the inning.

The White Sox slugger came in leading the majors in extra-base hits (35) and doubles (20). His eighth-inning homer was his 17th of the season, and gave him 13 career multihomer games, including three this season.

Vargas was coming off a shutout against Toronto in his last start, but the White Sox got to him in the first inning. Quentin hit a 1-2 pitch into the back of the White Sox bullpen in left, extending his hitting streak to 10 games.

Seattle finally broke through in the sixth. Brendan Ryan and Smoak started the rally with singles, giving the Mariners runners on the corners with no outs. Kennedy’s grounder brought home Ryan, breaking Floyd’s streak. Carlos Peguero worked Floyd for a walk, then Gutierrez’s double to left gave Seattle a 3-1 lead.

Chicago trimmed the advantage to one on Beckham’s two-out single in the bottom of seventh, which scored Brent Lillibridge.

NOTES: The White Sox placed RHP Jake Peavy on the 15-day DL (retroactive to Monday) with a mild groin strain. Peavy, who left his most recent start after four innings because of the injury, was replaced on the roster by RHP Lucas Harrell, who was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte. … The Mariners recalled Carp from Triple-A Tacoma on Wednesday and optioned OF Mike Wilson to Tacoma. Mariners manager Eric Wedge said that he expects to play Carp 3-4 times a week. … Alex Rios was back in the starting lineup on Wednesday after sitting for three games for what White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen called a “mental break.” Rios is hitting .199. … Ichiro Suzuki played his 1,353rd career game in right field for the Mariners, breaking Jay Buhner’s franchise record. … White Sox reliever Jeff Marquez, who was designated for assignment on June 5, was claimed off waivers by the Yankees on Wednesday.

The disappointing play of former Blue Jays right-fielder Alex Rios has been confusing to the White Sox. Maybe he has one good at-bat a game. … He’s having good at-bats, says manager Ozzie Guillen. (Chris Carlson/Associated Press)

The Chicago White Sox continue to be puzzled by the woes of Alex Rios. Perhaps he will show signs of life against his former team, judging by how he fared versus the Toronto Blue Jays last season.

Coming off their first series loss in nearly a month, the White Sox hope Rios will start to get untracked in the opener of a four-game set in Toronto on Thursday at 7:07 p.m. ET.

Chicago (23-28) lost two of three in Texas, falling 2-1 on Wednesday. The White Sox had won five series and split the other one since getting swept in two games by Minnesota from May 3-4.

Rios went 0-for-4 on Wednesday to drop his average to .165 on the road. Chicago is having trouble figuring out the problems of the outfielder, who finished second on the team with 88 runs batted in and third with 21 homers in 2010.

“That’s the question we ask every day,” manager Ozzie Guillen told the White Sox’s official website. “Maybe he has one good at-bat a game. He’s practicing, he’s having good at-bats.”

Chicago acquired Rios off waivers from Toronto (24-25) on Aug. 10, 2009. He did not get the chance to face his former team until 2010, when he hit safely in all eight meetings with a .382 average, three homers and five RBIs.

The White Sox went 3-5 against the Blue Jays last year after going 2-13 over the previous two. Chicago had lost 10 straight at Rogers Centre before splitting four games April 12-15, 2010.

Last season, Chicago was the only American League team that major league home run leader Jose Bautista failed to go deep against. Bautista went 5-for-27 with 10 walks in the series.

Bautista slump

The slugger is mired in a 6-for-27 slump over his last eight games after going 1-for-3 in Wednesday’s 7-3 road loss to the Yankees.

“When it comes to my at-bats, I should have done a better job,” Bautista said. “I failed twice with men in scoring position.”

Bautista has never faced Phil Humber (3-3, 3.10 earned-run average), who will start Thursday and leads all Chicago starters with a .191 opponent batting average. The right-hander yielded two runs over seven innings Friday in a 6-4, 10-inning loss to the Dodgers.

Humber has never started against the Blue Jays, allowing four runs in 2 1/3 innings over two appearances.

He’ll be opposed by Brandon Morrow (2-2, 5.06), who is 0-1 with an 8.38 ERA in two career starts versus the White Sox. Rios is 2-for-9 with five strikeouts against Morrow.

The right-hander did not receive a decision after allowing season highs of four runs and nine hits over six-plus innings in a 7-5 victory over Houston on Saturday.

Adam Dunn will likely be back in Chicago’s lineup after not starting Wednesday against left-hander C.J. Wilson. He’s batting .191 with a major league-high 61 strikeouts.

The Chicago White Sox continue to be puzzled by the woes of Alex Rios(notes).
Perhaps he will show signs of life against his former team, judging by how he
fared versus the Toronto Blue Jays last season.

Coming off their first series loss in nearly a month, the White Sox hope
Rios will start to get untracked in the opener of a four-game set in Toronto on
Thursday night.

Chicago (23-28) lost two of three in Texas, falling 2-1 on Wednesday. The
White Sox had won five series and split the other one since getting swept in two
games by Minnesota from May 3-4.

Rios went 0 for 4 on Wednesday to drop his average to .165 on the road.
Chicago is having trouble figuring out the problems of the outfielder, who
finished second on the team with 88 RBIs and third with 21 homers in 2010.

“That’s the question we ask every day,” manager Ozzie Guillen told the White
Sox’s official website. “Maybe he has one good at-bat a game. He’s practicing,
he’s having good at-bats.”

Chicago acquired Rios off waivers from Toronto (24-25) on Aug. 10, 2009. He
did not get the chance to face his former team until 2010, when he hit safely in
all eight meetings with a .382 average, three homers and five RBIs.

The White Sox went 3-5 against the Blue Jays last year after going 2-13 over
the previous two. Chicago had lost 10 straight at Rogers Centre before splitting
four games April 12-15, 2010.

Last season, Chicago was the only AL team that major league home run leader
Jose Bautista(notes) failed to go deep against. Bautista went 5 for 27 with 10 walks in
the series.

The slugger is mired in a 6-for-27 slump over his last eight games after
going 1 for 3 in Wednesday’s 7-3 road loss to the Yankees.

“When it comes to my at-bats, I should have done a better job,” Bautista
said. “I failed twice with men in scoring position.”

Bautista has never faced Phil Humber(notes) (3-3, 3.10 ERA), who will start
Thursday and leads all Chicago starters with a .191 opponent batting average.
The right-hander yielded two runs over seven innings Friday in a 6-4, 10-inning
loss to the Dodgers.

Humber has never started against the Blue Jays, allowing four runs in 2 1-3
innings over two appearances.

He’ll be opposed by Brandon Morrow(notes) (2-2, 5.06), who is 0-1 with an 8.38 ERA
in two career starts versus the White Sox. Rios is 2 for 9 with five strikeouts
against Morrow.

The right-hander did not receive a decision after allowing season highs of
four runs and nine hits over six-plus innings in a 7-5 victory over Houston on
Saturday.

Adam Dunn(notes) will likely be back in Chicago’s lineup after not starting
Wednesday against left-hander C.J. Wilson(notes). He’s batting .191 with a major
league-high 61 strikeouts.