Los Angeles @ Seattle preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 23, 2010 ) LA Angels 4, Seattle 6

Since there are no ties in baseball, save for the 2002 All-Star Game, something has to give when the downtrodden Los Angeles Angels begin a three-game series tonight at the punchless Seattle Mariners.

The Angels are 0-7 on a trip that ends at Safeco Field and have lost seven consecutive games for the first time since closing out the 2001 season with seven straight losses. The Mariners have lost six in a row at home, scoring just nine runs in that stretch.

Coming off a four-game sweep in Boston, the Angels must fly across the country, something the Mariners will try to use to their advantage. Seattle, batting just .188 in the losing streak, will use anything to its advantage just to score some runs these days.

The Angels had not lost four in a row at Fenway Park since 1967. They have not started this poorly since 1999.

Two teams looking to get well against each other will go with their aces tonight.

Jered Weaver (3-1, 3.19) faces Felix Hernandez (2-2, 3.10) in a matchup that many would have expected to be for the AL West division lead, not the division cellar. Even those two pitchers are coming off poor outings.

Weaver labored against the Detroit Tigers in a 5-1 loss Sunday, throwing 109 pitches in 4 2/3 innings and allowing four runs on seven hits.

Hernandez went just 4 1/3 innings against Texas on Saturday, his shortest outing since last May 9 against Minnesota. He was battling a stiff lower back against the Rangers and allowed five runs on eight hits in a 6-3 loss as his streak of 18 consecutive quality starts ended.

The Angels have not been quite as pathetic as the Mariners at the plate, but they have struggled. Notably, Hideki Matsui is in a 3-for-31 slump with eight strikeouts.

Angels shortstop Maicer Izturis will have an MRI exam on his right shoulder today. He has been used sporadically because of soreness in the shoulder.
The Mariners will be without outfielder Milton Bradley for an extended period of time. Bradley was placed on the restricted list after he asked for professional help with stress and other personal issues.

Bradley must sit out at least five games but manager Don Wakamatsu said the temperamental Bradley would not be traveling with the team to Baltimore for a three-game series that starts Tuesday. He might not play again until the Mariners return home May 19 against Toronto.

Seattle brought up outfielder Michael Saunders from Triple-A Tacoma to replace Bradley in the lineup.