The Oakland A's became one of the bigger surprises in baseball last weekend when, after six straight wins, they improved to .500 for the season and moved to within 1 1/2 games of first place in the American League West. It's been a bit of a struggle for the A's ever since. Sunday, they lost 8-4 to the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park, marking their sixth loss in the last eight games. The A's trailed 5-0 after two innings, but a Max Schuemann error paved the way to a four-run second for the division-leading Mariners, who took two of three in the series.