By Matthew Harrington

OAKLAND, Calif. – The Oakland Athletics put a nightmare series against the Los Angeles Angels behind them Monday afternoon, topping the Seattle Mariners 6-1 at O.Co Coliseum in a Labor Day matinee. Adam Dunn launched a home run in his Athletics debut, while Jason Hammel fired an eight-inning gem to lead Oakland (79-58) to its first win in six games.

The A’s struggled to score four runs total over a four-game sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Angels Thursday through Sunday, prompting manager Bob Melvin to hold a closed door meeting Sunday after describing his team’s performance as “pathetic” in a postgame conference . On Monday, the A’s stifled any concerns over a stagnant offense, exploding for five runs off the Mariners (73-63) and starter Chris Young in the first inning.

“You never know where things are going to go,” said Melvin. “With the way we’ve been playing, lacking a little bit of energy. The early innings we’ve really been having trouble getting on the board. We had a lot of energy in our dugout, and certainly our fans had a lot to do with it. The place is packed, they’re making a lot of noise. That was the culmination of it.”

Adam Dunn, making his A’s debut after coming over in a Sunday trade with the White Sox for minor leaguer Nolan Sanburn, launched a two out, two-run home run to open the scoring. The designated hitter became the 12^th player in Athletics history to homer in his first at-bat with the team.

“It all happened so fast,” said Dunn on his homer. “I was anxious, a little nervous. More than I have been in a long time.”

“That was like a storybook kind of thing,” added Melvin. “The fans were lining up here at 7:30 in the morning. They were out in full force to start the game. We have really been lacking early energy runs. You start thinking to yourself ‘Wouldn’t it be something’ and he delivered. You get goose bumps, it was awesome.”

Dunn said that the sellout crowd, the 15^th of the season for the A’s, was one of the loudest crowds he ever played for. It was one of many new experiences for Dunn on the day, including his introduction to the home run tunnel.

“It threw me off quite a bit,” said Dunn with a smile. “I’m pretty smart, I figured it out.”

Geovany Soto, playing his first game in front of the hometown fans after being acquired from the Texas Rangers during the A’s recent roadtrip, knocked in a pair on a bases-loaded, full-count single. His hit chased Young (12-7, 3.46 ERA) from the game after just two-thirds of an inning. Eric Sogard would knock in another run to welcome reliever Lucas Luetge to the game and extend the lead to 5-0.

The A’s only scored one run after that, with Josh Donaldson knocking an RBI double down the third base line in the sixth inning. The insurance run was less than necessary for Oakland, with starting pitcher Jason Hammel (2-5, 4.98) doing anything but laboring on Labor Day. The righty turned in his best performance with the Athletics this season, firing eight innings of one-run ball with his only blemish a solo homer to Brad Miller in the sixth inning. Hammel threw 111 pitches, striking out five Mariners while scattering only three hits.

“I felt very comfortable,” said Hammel. “We had a game plan going into today and we executed it very well. It was mainly fastball-slider today, staying aggressive.”

Hammel, acquired in the Fourth of July deal that netted the A’s Jeff Samardzija from the Cubs, picked up just his first win since August 5^th. It’s just the second time Hammel’s name has followed the “W” on the box score as a member of the A’s. His turn in the rotation was skipped earlier this month after Hammel coughed up five runs over three innings at Atlanta August 15^th. In his return to the rotation August 26th, Hammel delivered seven innings of three-hit, one-run ball but left with the no decision. He has now gone 15 innings, allowing two runs in two starts since Drew Pomeranz took his turn.

“When I was going through that tough stretch it felt like I was down,” said Hammel. “It was more frustration than not having confidence with myself. When your slider disappears for a month you feel naked out there. That’s my go to when I’m in trouble.”

With the calendar turning from August to September, the A’s received reinforcements with the roster expanding. Catcher Bryan Anderson, outfielder Billy Burns and Fernando Rodriguez joined the team for Monday’s tilt.

Also joining the Athletics was shortstop Jed Lowrie. Lowrie, activated from the disabled list Monday morning after recovering from a finger injury, went two-for-four on the day.

“He had good at-bats,” said Melvin. “He had no issues at short throwing the ball. He was one of those subtle guys that really does have an impact for us at shortstop. He hits from both sides of the plate, knocks in some runs. He’s a two-way player that we’ve really counted on for a couple of years now. The line-up seemed more impactful with (Lowrie and Dunn) in it.”

The new look A’s offense will have to prove itself once again on Tuesday night against the Mariners. The M’s, the major league leaders in staff earned run average, send James Paxton to the mound to face Sonny Gray at O.Co Coliseum.