Seattle @ Los Angeles preview
Angel Stadium
Last Meeting ( May 9, 2010 ) LA Angels 1, Seattle 8
The Los Angeles Angels, once the proud owners of the best bullpen in the American League, have seen their relievers come unglued this season.
The Angels’ bullpen had a combined 3.71 ERA from 2000-2009 - the lowest in the AL in that span.
How things have changed. The Angels have slipped to last in the AL with an ERA of 5.30. Angels relievers Matt Painter (16.20 ERA), Brian Stokes (15.43) and Kevin Jepsen (11.57) have been horrendous, trying the patience of manager Mike Scioscia.
Such woes could continue to be a factor as the Angels open a three-game series tonight against the Seattle Mariners.
The Mariners have shown a knack for scoring runs in the late innings, rallying to beat Detroit 5-3 on Tuesday behind Milton Bradley’s eighth-inning RBI single and scoring four runs in the eighth inning in Wednesday’s 5-4 victory over the Tigers.
That marked the first time this season that Seattle has won a game in which it trailed by at least three runs. The Mariners had been 0-16 in such situations.
Seattle seeks its third consecutive win for the first time since April 17-19.
Los Angeles has not lost a series to the Mariners since 2003, winning two of three in Seattle earlier this month.
The Angels also hopes to take advantage of the Mariners’ struggles on the road, where they have lost six of their last seven and 13 of 16. Los Angeles has won four straight at home against Seattle.
Both teams will start left-handers as they begin a stretch of 20 consecutive games. Scott Kazmir (3-4, 6.09) goes for the Angels against Cliff Lee (2-2, 3.44).
Kazmir is coming off a solid performance in his last start, limiting St. Louis to three runs and three hits in seven innings.
Lee would like to forget his last outing, when he allowed a career-high eight runs on a season-high 11 hits. Fortunately for him, the Mariners had their most productive night of the season and routed San Diego 15-8.
Lee has won his last three starts against Los Angeles, pitching two complete games with a 1.80 ERA.
Mike Sweeney continues to excel at the plate for the Mariners, hitting a two-run homer in the eighth Wednesday night. Sweeney has six homers in his past 10 games and is batting .441 (15-for-34) during that stretch.
This series also marks the return of former Angel Chone Figgins to Anaheim.
Figgins, who signed a four-year, $36 million deal with the Mariners in December after eight seasons with the Angels, is hitting just .194 while batting No. 2 in the lineup. He had been a leadoff hitter for the Angels, something unlikely to happen with the Mariners as long as Ichiro Suzuki is on the roster.
There has been much speculation about moving Figgins to the ninth spot, but manager Don Wakamatsu said Figgins will continue to bat second. Figgins was 0-for-10 in the three-game series earlier this month against the Angels.