By Morris Phillips

Sean Nolin’s Oakland debut was sprinkled with equal doses of pain and promise.  Nothing new there; the A’s have been consuming that concoction pretty much the entirety of 2015.

While Nolin acquitted himself quite well, allowing three runs in six innings of work, the A’s offense was quiet until the seventh, after the big, left-hander departed.  Single runs in the seventh and eighth weren’t enough, however, as the A’s fell 3-2, their 31^st loss by a run this season.

The win was Seattle’s fifth straight, continuing their surge to the fringes of the AL Wild Card race that coincides with the firing of GM Jack Zduriencik 10 days ago.  The A’s have dropped five in a row, and now are a season-worst 21 games below .500.

Not surprisingly, given the A’s recent, rough times, this one could have gone either way, but swung to Oakland’s opponent, as the Mariners’ often-feeble bullpen did the job, escaping jams in the seventh and eighth innings.  The A’s couldn’t produce the big hit, going 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position.

In the seventh, with a run in and one out, and runners at first and third, Mariners’ reliever Tony Zych struck out pinch-hitter Marcus Semien and retired Billy Burns on a liner to center.  In the eighth, closer Tom Wilhelmsen came on with a run in, and the tying run at second, and retired Brett Lawrie and Billy Butler.

Wilhelmsen pitched the ninth as well, registering a five-out save, his 10th.

“That’s a gutsy as I’ve seen him in the two years I’ve been here,” Seattle manager Lloyd McClendon said.  “That was not an easy save.”

The A’s outhit the Mariners, nine hits to seven, but they weren’t smartly distributed.  Billy Burns, Mark Canha and Billy Butler each had a pair of hits, but none of the other six guys penciled into Bob Melvin’s starting lineup hit.  A trio of pinch-hitters each got a base hit, but none was the big one that could have at least sent the A’s to extras.

The A’s played without Sam Fuld, who has been dealing with back spasms.  Josh Reddick was dealing with an illness, and didn’t start, but managed a base hit as a pinch-hitter.  And Stephen Vogt left the field in severe pain and was taken to a local hospital after he was struck in the groin by a foul ball.

The Mariners weren’t at full strength either.  They played the entire series without Nelson Cruz, who was leading the majors in homers with 39 before being surpassed by Baltimore’s Chris Davis over the weekend.

Nolin became the 28^th pitcher to take the mound for the A’s this season, which establishes a new team record.  The lefty was one of four players acquired in the Josh Donaldson deal with Toronto, and his major league history to date was neither lengthy or pretty.  Nolin allowed six runs on seven hits, while recording just four outs in his major league-debut in May 2013.  He didn’t pitch again at the big level until 2014 with the Jays, and that was again only one appearance.

So on Sunday, Nolin finally got a chance to truly get his feet wet as a big leaguer, and he was cruising until the fifth when he was done in by allowing back-to-back walks and then a wild pitch that allowed a runner to score from third.  Nolin got some nice help in that inning from third baseman Danny Valencia, who fooled Logan Morrison into thinking a throw wasn’t coming, and tagged out Morrison when he failed to slide.

Nolin didn’t allow a hit in four of the six inning he pitched, and all indications are that he will assume a spot in Oakland’s fluid rotation for the remainder of the season.  Due to a couple of injuries and stints on the disabled list in the minors, Melvin hadn’t seen Nolin pitch.  But what he saw Sunday, he liked.

“Kept them off-balance, really not too many good swings.  It was just the two walks that ended up costing him some runs,” Melvin said.

“I felt a little more comfortbale than I did my last two rehab starts,” Nolin revealed.  “I’m grateful for that.”

The A’s see the first-place Astros in the Labor Day matinee at 1:05pm Monday.  Felix Dubront will face no-hit Mike Fiers, two starts removed from his no-no against the Dodgers on August 21.  The A’s have really seen their lack of depth and talent crop up since last seeing the Astros last month, when they captured three of four.  Since then, the A’s are a major-league worst 7-17.