"On Saturday night at Safeco Field, Jack Cust got a little boost from Mariners left fielder Michael Saunders, who knocked Cust's drive to the left-field wall up and out.

That gave the A's - power-hitting fiends in this series with seven home runs - back-to-back home runs after Mark Ellis' two-out shot to left in the fourth, Oakland's first hit off David Pauley. The next inning, rookie Chris Carter belted a two-run drive off Pauley, and the A's beat the Mariners 5-3 to assure themselves of no worse than a second-place tie in the American League West.

"Second place is the first loser," Cust said. "It's cool we'll get a little money for it, but besides that, it's not where we want to be."

If the A's can complete a four-game sweep today, they'll take second outright and will finish with a .500 record, the first nonlosing season in Bob Geren's four years as manager.

A's starter Brett Anderson allowed the leadoff man to reach in all but one of his seven innings, but he minimized the damage and allowed only one earned run, which scored on Anderson's own awkward, unsuccessful attempt to field a comebacker by Greg Halman. Anderson said he had a bit of whiplash after that, but after a few trial pitches, he remained in the game.

"It was probably that Matrix-style move," Anderson said. "This body is not made for that."

Anderson went 4-0 with a 2.18 ERA over his final six starts. He finished the season 7-6, but his record might look different with more support: In five of his losses, the A's failed to score more than one run.

Cust homered on a 3-0 pitch for the first time in his career, and Cust said it was because the A's nearly always put on the don't-swing sign."