Cincinnati @ Seattle preview
T-Mobile Park
Last Meeting ( Jun 19, 2010 ) Cincinnati 1, Seattle 5
After facing two of the most dominant pitchers of the past few seasons, the Cincinnati Reds will try to salvage the finale of a three-game series this afternoon at Safeco Field.
The Reds came west in first place in the NL Central but after losing five of six games, they are 1½ games behind St. Louis.
Cincinnati has not lost three in a row since April 16-18.
Seattle, meanwhile, will try to match a season high by winning its fourth consecutive game.
What many believed would be the top 1-2 pitching punch in the American League finally gave Seattle fans something they had been awaiting for much of the season.
Cliff Lee, the 2008 AL Cy Young Award winner, and Felix Hernandez, the 2009 Cy Young runner-up, threw back-to-back complete games on Friday and Saturday night. It marked the first time the Mariners have had complete game victories back-to-back since Bob Wells and Bob Wolcott on July 14-15, 1996.
Hernandez struck out nine and threw a five-hitter in a 5-1 victory Saturday night. He received the type of support that has been rare for Mariners starting pitchers this season.
The Mariners scored four runs in the sixth inning, highlighted by Michael Saunders’ three-run homer off Sam LeCure, when he sent a first-pitch fastball an estimated 421 feet to right field.
Cincinnati has scored one run in the first two games of this series, but still leads the National League in hits (645), average (.277), RBIs (326) and home runs (83).
The Reds, who have lost seven of eight interleague games to the Mariners, will try to keep Seattle left-hander Ryan Rowland-Smith (0-6, 6.63 ERA) winless.
The Australian will make his first start against a National League opponent. Rowland-Smith made his major league debut against the Reds, throwing 1 1/3 scoreless innings of relief on June 22, 2007.
Cincinnati will start right-hander Aaron Harang (5-6, 5.44), who is coming off a rough start Tuesday against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Harang threw 98 pitches in 4 1/3 innings and allowed five runs. He was pulled during a rain delay of 2 hours, 24 minutes as the Dodgers earned a 12-0 victory.
Harang is 1-2 with a 1.32 ERA against the Mariners.
Seattle right-hander Doug Fister will throw today at Triple-A Tacoma and is expected to start either Friday or Saturday at Milwaukee after missing three starts with a fatigued shoulder.