Detroit @ Seattle preview
T-Mobile Park
Last Meeting ( Apr 17, 2010 ) Detroit 2, Seattle 4
Don’t look now, but the player with the most hits in baseball the past decade is heating up.
Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki went 3-for-3 and fell a home run shy of hitting for the cycle Saturday night in a 4-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers.
The Mariners are suddenly one of the hottest teams in baseball, and go for their fifth consecutive victory and a three-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers today at Safeco Field.
These are the same Mariners who earlier this week had gone 20 consecutive scoreless innings and had only two regular starters hitting above .250. Suzuki, who has 200-plus hits in each of the past nine seasons, has seven hits in his last 13 at-bats, raising his batting average to .306.
Mariners center fielder Franklin Gutierrez drove in two runs Saturday and is second in the American League in hitting at .417. He is 7-for-13 with six RBIs in his past three games and his 20 hits top the AL.
This is not how the Tigers had hoped to start their 11-game West Coast road swing. They are 0-2 and have lost four of the past five. They begin a four-game series against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim on Monday followed by another four-game set at Texas.
Mariners right-hander Ian Snell was away from the team for a few days attending the funeral for an undisclosed family member.
Snell also is fighting the flu but will make his third start of the season today. He went just three innings against Texas. Snell is 1-1 in two starts against the Tigers with a 2.13 ERA. Right fielder Magglio Ordonez, who homered for the Tigers Saturday night, is batting .571 (4-for-7) in his career against Snell. Teammate Miguel Cabrera is batting .364 (4-for-11) against Snell.
The Tigers have lost four of five and counter with Max Scherzer, who is 0-1 this season. The right-hander has never faced the Mariners. Shortstop Jack Wilson is the only Mariner to have ever faced Scherzer and is 2-for-4 against him.
Scherzer allowed only one hit in six scoreless innings in his first start but allowed nine hits and five runs – two earned – in his next outing.
Seattle’s bullpen has been simply brilliant the past five games with a stellar 0.79 ERA. David Aardsma is second in the AL with five saves in five opportunities. He has yet to allow a run, striking out six and walking two in five innings.