Tampa Bay @ Seattle preview

Tampa Bay at Seattle

Last Meeting ( May 4, 2010 ) Tampa Bay 5, Seattle 2

The Seattle Mariners run a TV spot with Felix Hernandez teasing offseason acquisition Cliff Lee, saying that he is nothing special because lots of guys have two first names. Hernandez then rattled off a list like a scratched CD.

“OK. I get it. There are lots of guy with two first names,” Lee finally says.

The Mariners have shown they are nothing special recently as well, losing four in a row and seven of nine, while barely lighting the scoreboard.

Seattle played perhaps its worst home game of the season Tuesday night in a 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. The Mariners made four errors, including three by usually sure-handed shortstop Jack Wilson. They had a wild pitch and they also had their second-smallest crowd in Safeco Field history at 15,589.

Back as clean-up hitter for the first time since early April, Milton Bradley struck out twice - the last time looking at a fastball from James Shields right down the middle of the plate with the bases loaded and his team trailing, 3-1.

That was enough for Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu. He replaced Bradley before the seventh inning with Ryan Langerhans, who was called up from Triple-A Tacoma on Sunday. Bradley, the mercurial outfielder playing for his eighth team in 10 years, was reportedly furious with the move.

And more bad news? Reliever Mark Lowe had an MRI on his back Tuesday and could be going on the disabled list.

OK, like Lee, we get it. The Mariners are terrible on offense and threw in a clunker fielding the ball Tuesday.

With his team in a spiral, Lee makes his second start for the Mariners. It’s games such as these which underscore why Lee was acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies last December. Games when he will be required to clean up a sloppy mess that even Mariners management could not have envisioned going into the season.

Lee might need to be as good as he was in his debut last Friday against the Texas Rangers just for them to have a chance. The Rays own the best record in the majors and are 10-1 on the road. They will start right-hander Matt Garza, who has won four of his first five starts.

In that game against Texas, Lee threw seven scoreless innings, struck out eight and did not issue a walk. Of 98 pitches, 73 were strikes. Those are numbers that any club would be thrilled about and that in most cases would secure a victory. Still, these are the Mariners we are talking about, and Lee got zero help offensively and had to settle for a no-decision.

So Wednesday night, the Mariners will send their left-handed ace to seal a hand that the jokers have trumped too often recently.