Seattle @ Milwaukee preview
American Family Field
Last Meeting ( Mar 8, 2010 ) Seattle 2, Milwaukee 6
The Seattle Mariners have pitched their way to six wins in the last seven games. The Milwaukee Brewers have slugged their way to four straight victories.
Great pitching will meet a fierce lineup when the Mariners and Brewers open up a three-game interleague series on Friday.
Mired in last place in the American League West and treating their fans to more trade rumors than wins, Seattle went on an unexpected tear over the last week, winning six straight before dropping a 3-2 decision in 13 innings to the Chicago Cubs on Thursday.
The Mariners only scored more than two runs twice during that stretch, but managed to emerge on the positive side due to a pitching staff that allowed a total of six runs in the seven games - three in the six straight wins.
While ace Cliff Lee will likely get moved before the July 31 trade deadline, Erik Bedard is almost ready to make his return to the rotation, giving Mariners fans something to cheer about in an otherwise lost season.
Milwaukee is pretty far from contention as well, but the offense has been in high gear all season, ranking among the top run-scoring units in the National League. The Brewers scored 23 runs in their four consecutive wins, closing out a sweep of the Minnesota Twins with a 5-0 victory on Thursday.
Rickie Weeks and Prince Fielder each homered and drove in a pair Thursday, pushing Milwaukee past the Cincinnati Reds for the National League lead with 87 homers.
Fresh off his first win of the season, Ryan Rowland-Smith will get the call for the Mariners in the opener. Seattle boasts three starters with ERAs under 3.00 while Felix Hernandez is at 3.39. Rowland-Smith has been the undisputed weak link in the current rotation and was banished to the bullpen for three appearances at the end of May.
His return resulted in a pair of losses and a failure to complete six innings in his first three starts back. But Rowland-Smith seemed to turn it around last weekend, holding the powerful Reds without a run while yielding three hits in six frames en route to his first win.
The Brewers will counter with right-hander Dave Bush. No stranger to long droughts without a win himself, Bush snapped a nine-start winless streak last time out with a strong outing against the Los Angeles Angels. The veteran held the Angels to one run on seven hits in 7 1/3 innings to pick up his second win of the season.
Bush has struggled in interleague play in his career, owning a 5-6 career mark with a 5.09 ERA in 15 starts. He has faced Seattle three times previously, going 1-1 with a 4.96 ERA.