Seattle @ Tampa Bay preview
Tropicana Field
Last Meeting ( May 6, 2010 ) Tampa Bay 8, Seattle 0
The Seattle Mariners’ anemic offense has shown signs of life under the guidance of a new hitting coach.
But the Mariners still don’t have much to show for it, and wins won’t come easy this weekend against the American League’s best pitching staff.
Seattle looks to bounce back from a disheartening loss to Baltimore when they visit the major league-leading Tampa Bay Rays tonight in the opener of a three-game series.
Seattle, which was pegged as a sleeper to win the American League West, has vastly underachieved, having lost 10 of its last 12 games. The Mariners fired hitting coach Alan Crockrell on Sunday after the team scored just 12 runs during an eight-game slide.
The low point of the skid came against the Rays, who outscored Seattle 21-5 during a three-game sweep from May 4-6.
Seattle will be looking for some revenge this weekend, and with the offense perking up since the appointment of former Triple-A Tacoma hitting coach Alonzo Powell, the Mariners seem more capable of turning the tables.
Though the Mariners lost two of three to the lowly Baltimore Orioles this week, they did manage 12 runs and could have won the series if not for an excruciating loss in Thursday’s finale.
Seattle hit a season-high three home runs to back a stellar outing from Felix Hernandez. But reliever Brandon League gave up a game-winning grand slam to Luke Scott in a five-run eighth inning of a 6-5 setback.
Ichiro Suzuki, Mike Sweeney and Michael Saunders all homered for the Mariners, who are near the bottom of the league in every offensive category. Adding insult to injury, Corey Patterson threw out Josh Wilson at home for the final out in Thursday’s game.
If Seattle is to rebound, its offense will have to solve the stingiest pitching staff in the American League. The Rays boast the third-best team ERA in the majors at 2.78 and, more impressively, Tampa’s starters lead all teams with a combined ERA of 2.58.
The Mariners’ offense will get a stern test against Wade Davis (3-2, 3.18), who is looking to rebound from a rare poor performance.
The 24-year-old right-hander allowed three runs and six hits in five innings of a 4-2 loss to Oakland on Saturday - his first defeat since April 10.
Davis will try and lead the Rays to their eighth win in 12 games. On Wednesday, David Price pitched into the seventh inning and the Rays took advantage of a pair of passed balls to steal a 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels.
The Rays may also find runs hard to come by since Seattle boasts the second-best ERA in the American League.
The biggest surprise is that neither Cliff Lee nor the aforementioned Hernandez leads the team in ERA. That honor goes to Doug Fister (2-1, 1.71), who takes the hill tonight.
The 26-year-old right-hander has been victimized by the Mariners’ poor offense. He had three no-decisions in his last three starts despite allowing just five runs in that span. This will be his first start against the Rays.