Seattle @ Kansas City preview
Kauffman Stadium
Last Meeting ( Apr 26, 2010 ) Seattle 1, Kansas City 3
Without much warning, the Seattle Mariners are finding it difficult to score runs. That isn’t likely to get any easier Tuesday when they face reigning American League Cy Young winner Zack Greinke and the Kansas City Royals.
Greinke might be winless this season, but he has dominated the Mariners throughout his career, posting a 3-0 mark with a 1.67 ERA. He hasn’t gotten much support in four starts thus far as Kansas City is averaging 3.5 runs when its ace is on the mound.
The Mariners were held scoreless for their last 12 innings until scratching for a run in the ninth on Monday. They have lost four straight, scoring a total of 13 runs and batting just .195 during the skid.
Thanks to a 2-for-31 slump, Chone Figgins is batting .179 and Milton Bradley is down to .220. In fact, Ichiro Suzuki and Franklin Gutierrez are the only regulars batting over .300. It’s all part of the reason why Royals starter Kyle Davies was able to carry a no-hitter into the sixth Monday despite throwing more than 100 pitches.
The Mariners will rely on Ian Snell to pull them out of this funk. Snell has allowed eight walks and 17 hits in 14 innings this season. He has battled the death of a relative and a bacterial virus already this month, and Tuesday’s start will be his first in more than a week.
Snell will have his hands full with a Royals team playing better than expected.
Billy Butler, who routinely crushes Seattle pitching, has hit safely in seven of his last 14 at-bats and homered for the second time on Monday. The top six batters in Kansas City’s lineup are hitting .290 or better.
The effort by Kansas City’s bullpen on Monday, when four relievers preserved a shutout until two outs in the ninth, was a huge boost. In addition, it happened without closer Joakim Soria, who was unavailable after pitching on consecutive days.
Royals relievers carry a 6.38 ERA into Tuesday’s game, meaning the longer Greinke goes, the better it is for Kansas City.