Texas @ Seattle preview
T-Mobile Park
Last Meeting ( May 1, 2010 ) Texas 6, Seattle 3
As easy as 1-2-3 for Texas?
The Rangers hope so after winning the first two games of this three-game series, beating Seattle aces Cliff Lee and Felix Hernandez. They will try for a sweep today when C.J. Wilson faces Doug Fister.
Seattle’s small-ball approach has not worked well. The Mariners had eight hits – all singles - in Saturday’s 6-3 loss. They have gone 52 innings without a home run and rank last in the majors with just nine homers. The Mariners are also last in slugging percentage at .337.
What might gnaw at the Mariners fans even more than the poor hitting are the fielding and baserunning gaffes.
In Saturday’s third inning, left fielder Milton Bradley stared at Elvis Andrus’ double that fell between Bradley and Franklin Gutierrez. The miscommunication cost two runs.
On Friday night, Eric Byrnes pulled his bat back on a suicide squeeze with Ichiro Suzuki charging from third base. Suzuki was tagged out after catcher Matt Treanor initially dropped the ball.
The Mariners hope Fister can prevent the sweep. He has the fourth-lowest ERA (1.67) in the American League (1.67) and has been a steadying hand as the Mariners awaited Lee’s return while recovering from an abdominal strain.
Fister is making just his second career start against the Rangers and can only hope it’s better than his first. He allowed a career-high 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings in a 7-2 loss to the Rangers on Sept. 13, 2009.
Wilson (2-1, 1.75) has been solid in all four starts for the Rangers and is coming off a 4-2 in over Chicago when he allowed two runs in six innings. The converted reliever is 5-2 with a 5.77 ERA in 38 career games against Seattle.
Andrus has been on a hot streak, going 6-for-14 (.428) with two runs scored, two RBIs and two stolen bases. He has reached base safely in 18 of his last 20 games.
A potentially ominous sign for Seattle is that Hernandez said he felt tightness in his back in the third inning Saturday. He left after 4 1/3 innings, his shortest outing since May 9, 2009, after serving up a homer to Josh and issuing consecutive walks.
But there was also positive news on the pitching front. Seattle manager Don Wakamatsu said left-hander Erik Bedard, battling back from off-season shoulder surgery, had no discomfort after throwing 50 pitches in a bullpen session Friday.
Bedard might not be far away from joining the Mariners. He likely will have another bullpen session and a few minor league rehab appearances.