AMERICAN LEAGUE: AROUND THE HORN M'S, A'S EYE MARKS, EACH OTHER.

The Seattle Mariners and Oakland A's are playing what amounts to be a relatively meaningless series this weekend, even though Oakland hasn't yet wrapped up the wild-card spot.

They'll play again for three games at the end of the month, certainly putting a priority on setting themselves up for the playoffs, aligning their rotation, etc.

Another series between the teams in mid-October would be big, though. It would mean both teams got through their first-round matchups, which will be no easy task.

Oakland will play the New York Yankees, and the Mariners will play the Cleveland Indians.

Before then, both actually do have something to play for. The Mariners have a chance to set the American League and major-league records for victories in a season.

The 1998 Yankees have the AL record with 114 wins and the 1906 Chicago Cubs have the major-league record with 116 wins.

Meanwhile, the A's have a chance to reach 100 wins for the first time since 1990.

Mariners manager Lou Piniella sat most of his regulars against the Angels a day after clinching the AL West. The Mariners lost. The next day against the A's he played most of the regulars, and the Mariners lost again.

``Wouldn't you go for it?'' A's manager Art Howe asked, referring to the victories record. ``They have a chance to do something special. Having the most wins in history would be quite an accomplishment.''

While the remaining regular-season games between the clubs have little other meaning, the victory total is something of which the players seem to be aware.

``I don't know if our main goal is to stop them from breaking a record, but we definitely want to play well against them,'' A's third baseman Eric Chavez said. ``We have a lot still left to prove if we are going to go to the playoffs. We want to keep winning.''

Meanwhile, Piniella is trying to figure out who he will put on the playoff roster, while listening to questions about a victories record.

``What am I supposed to do? You tell me,'' he said. ``We want to win as many games as possible to help us keep our edge, but we're not going to overuse our team to try and accomplish (the record for wins).

``If we set the record in either league and then lose in the postseason, everyone will say, `Why did the manager press for the record and not get his team ready for the postseason?' The prudent thing to do here is get the team ready.

``Would I like to win the World Series and set the record? You're damn right! But we're thin offensively. We want to play everybody, and if we had everybody available, I think we'd have a run at it. But we're thin. We have to get the bench playing time and get them ready, and we have to get healthy. Look, we're trying to bring a World Series situation to Seattle, regardless of how many wins we have the rest of the year. Besides, can you tell me who was the manager of the 1906 Cubs? No one remembers.''

His name was Frank Chance.

If the Mariners can get past the Indians, the A's could give them a fight in the playoffs.

``They know we can play with them,'' Howe said. ``In the first series, they beat up on us. Since then, we've played them well. We're a better team now than we were then.''

Since losing to the Mariners on June 26, the A's are a major-league-best 55-18. From June 5, the A's are 63-30, the Mariners 62-30.

It has brought the A's to the brink of clinching a playoff berth, which is quite a turnaround after there were rumors they would trade Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon and/or Jason Isringhausen when the team was struggling.