New York @ Seattle preview
T-Mobile Park
Last Meeting ( Jul 9, 2010 ) NY Yankees 6, Seattle 1
Cliff Lee, we hardly knew ye.
To Seattle Mariners fans, however, there was a whole lot to like about the no-nonsense Lee.
The ace left-hander was traded to the AL West-leading Texas Rangers in a hustle-bustle Friday that looked as if Lee was all but certain to change dugouts and go to the New York Yankees in the morning.
But by mid-afternoon, Texas sealed the deal by throwing in first baseman Justin Smoak, a switch-hitter that Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik coveted. The Rangers also added in minor-league pitchers Blake Beavan and Josh Lueke plus infield prospect Matt Lawson.
The Mariners also will send injured reliever Mark Lowe and $2 million to Texas.
Smoak is expected to start at first base on Saturday night. That means Russell Branyan, who was just re-acquired on June 26, will likely be the full-time designated hitter. Smoak is hitting .209 with eight homers and 34 RBIs.
Lee didn’t stay in Seattle long enough to leave much of a legacy, but he might have been the best rent-a-pitcher in Mariners history.
In 13 starts, Lee (8-3) threw five complete games, has the lowest ERA in the American League (2.34) and will likely shatter the all-time strikeouts-to-walks ratio. Lee has 89 strikeouts with just six walks, a ratio of 14.8-to-1. The all-time record is 11-to-1 set by Bret Saberhagen in 1994.
Several times, younger Mariners pitchers said they were learning a great deal just by watching Lee’s approach to the game.
That included Felix Hernandez, the 2009 Cy Young runner-up, and now the unquestioned ace of the Mariners staff. Every time Lee pitched a complete game, Hernandez seemed to follow with one of his own - something that happened three times in June.
With Lee’s departure and a team mired in a five-game losing streak and 18 games under .500, Hernandez is one of the few reasons Mariners fans have to come to Safeco Field.
Hernandez (6-5, 3.01 ERA) is 3-0 with a 1.48 ERA in his last five starts. He pitched a two-hitter with 11 strikeouts against the Yankees in a 7-0 victory June 30 at Yankee Stadium and will be asked to end the Yankees’ season-high seven game winning streak on Saturday.
New York received two homers from Mark Teixeira in a 6-1 victory Friday night and has won 12 of its last 15 road games.
Right-hander Javier Vazquez (7-7, 4.81) will start for the Yankees. He is 4-2 in his last seven starts with a 2.93 ERA after a rough start to the season when he didn’t throw six full innings in his first five starts.