OAKLAND, Calif. -- When the Seattle Mariners were in the midst of a recent eight-game losing streak, manager Lloyd McClendon reminded his players such stretches happen, and they will happen again. Then he challenged them to respond in a positive way. The club is now doing a little bit of everything right to get back on track. Rookie Roenis Elias struck out six while pitching into the seventh to win consecutive starts for the first time, Justin Smoak drove in three runs and the Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics 8-3 on Tuesday night for their season-best fourth straight victory. "Its been something incredible," Elias said. "Everybodys together doing their job. I like my team how theyre playing baseball." Smoak hit an RBI double and Dustin Ackley a run-scoring single in the first to back Elias (3-2), who followed up a 10-strikeout gem at Yankee Stadium his last time out with another impressive start once he settled down. The Mariners jumped on Jesse Chavez (2-1) to take a quick first-inning lead for the second straight game against the As -- and Seattle scored all three of its first-inning runs with two outs on the way to its ninth win in 11 games overall. "We know that were not going to win a playoff spot in April," Michael Saunders said. "However, that being said, losing eight straight was a definite learning experience for us. Its not going to be the last time." Chavez got a scare and escaped injury in the fourth when he saved himself from a hard-hit liner by Saunders by catching the screamer that was going right for his face. "It was all reflexes, I just put my glove up," Chavez said. "As soon as I let go of the pitch I saw him make contact. Ive jumped out of the way at balls at my lower body, but Ive never had one like that at my face before." Making the play knocked him off his feet to end the fourth, and the small Coliseum crowd of 12,106 briefly fell silent. "Luckily no one got hurt. I havent seen the replay but guys said it had a chance to hit him square in the face," Saunders said. Chavez got a double play to face the minimum in the fifth, but his night ended after allowing Mike Zuninos sixth-inning sacrifice fly following a hit batsman and a walk. Oakland No. 9 hitter Nick Punto pulled Oakland back in it with a two-run, two-out single in the second. Yoenis Cespedes, back in the starting lineup after nursing a left hamstring injury, hit a leadoff home run in the sixth. The As squandered a scoring chance in the seventh against Dominic Leone, leaving the tying run on third as they again struggled with runners in scoring position. Elias allowed three runs and five hits with three walks in 6 1-3 innings in his seventh career start. Sean Doolittle struck out all four batters he faced in relief of Chavez. But Seattle added on four unearned runs in the top of the ninth against 2013 AL saves leader Jim Johnson, who was booed off the mound when pulled by manager Bob Melvin as fans headed for the exits. Smoak added a two-run single. For Wednesdays doubleheader, Felix Hernandez will pitch Game 1 for Seattle and Erasmo Ramirez the second. As manager Bob Melvin didnt announce his choice for the nightcap, though Dan Straily pitches the opener. Oakland will make right-hander Arnold Leon its 26th player for the second game but is likely to start Drew Pomeranz since he didnt pitch in relief Tuesday. The 25-year-old Leons family was scheduled to fly in from Mexico for his likely major league debut after nine seasons in the minors. The teams are playing two after an April 4 game was called because of a soggy field that had mistakenly gone without its tarp during a heavy rainstorm. NOTES: Saunders, who came in batting .393 with a homer and five RBIs in seven games batting leadoff, went 0 for 4 atop the order. "I dont like messing with success," McClendon said. "Hes been doing great, weve been doing great. Its kind of hard to change that."... As reliever Eric OFlaherty, on the disabled list since undergoing Tommy John surgery in the off-season, threw a 30-pitch bullpen session and could begin throwing to hitters soon, and Melvin said an announcement on the pitchers next step would come Wednesday. ... Melvin said Triple-A catcher Stephen Vogt, an As playoff star last October currently on Sacramentos disabled list, is close to returning from a strained oblique muscle. 02:32ET 07-05-14 Fake NMD Human Race For Sale . Osasunas Alvaro Cejudo drove the ball onto the crossbar in the fifth minute and his team squandered several long-range strikes before he was denied one-on-one by goalkeeper Jaime Jimenez in the 50th. Adidas NMD Factory Outlet . Louis, MO (SportsNetwork. http://www.cheapnmdonline.com/wholesale-...d-r2-china.html. Marie rink got back in the win column at the Olympic mens curling tournament with a 7-4 win over the host Russian squad on Wednesday. Fake NMD R1 For Sale . Crawford hit his slam off Pirates starter Edinson Volquez to give San Francisco a four run lead in the fourth and they never looked back. Brandon Belt had three runs batted in as well. Bumgarner pitched all nine innings and allowed just four hits. Adidas NMD Mens Clearance . Ted Ligety, Mikaela Shiffrin, Bode Miller and Tim Jitloff underlined the squads enormous potential on the Rettenbach glacier in Austria.Flushing Meadows, NY (Sports Network) - World No. 1 superstar Novak Djokovic and defending champion Andy Murray waltzed over their respective opponents on Sunday and into the fourth round of the U.S. Open. The last remaining American was not as fortunate, however, as Tim Smyczek fell to Marcel Granollers of Spain, 6-4, 4-6, 0-6, 6-3, 7-5. Unfortunately for Granollers, his quarterfinal opponent is Djokovic, who pasted Portugals Joao Sousa, 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 on the hardcourts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. "Just do my job, win in straight sets, and spend as less time on court as possible," said Djokovic when asked of his mindset. Murray, who is trying to win back-to-back majors after taking Wimbledon, never lost his serve against Florian Mayer and rolled to a 7-6 (7-2), 66-2, 6-2 victory in a match that took just under two hours.dddddddddddd Next up for Murray is Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan, a 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 3-6, 6-1 winner over 20th-seeded Andreas Seppi on Sunday. Lleyton Hewitt did not have a letdown after ousting sixth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro in the second round. as the Aussie took out Russian Evgeny Donskoy, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 6-1 to set up a fourth-round match against Mikhail Youzhny. Youzhny, seeded 20th, will try to knock out the 2001 titlist later this week after disposing of 12th-seeded Tommy Haas (12), 6-3, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3. Two other top-10 seeds moved on, as fifth-seeded Tomas Berdych had no trouble with No. 31 Julien Benneteau 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 and ninth-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka got by Marcos Baghdatis, 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (1-7), 7-6 (9-7). ' ' '