Chicago @ Seattle preview
T-Mobile Park
Last Meeting ( Apr 25, 2010 ) Seattle 2, Chi. White Sox 3
Just call Monday night’s matchup between Chicago White Sox right-hander Daniel Hudson and Seattle Mariners hurler David Pauley each team’s version of “The Replacements.”
Hudson claimed the spot of Jake Peavy, who will miss the rest of the season after surgery to repair a detached muscle in his right shoulder.
Pauley was rushed into his first start against the New York Yankees on the day the Mariners traded Cliff Lee to the Texas Rangers.
The pitchers open a three-game series on Monday in Seattle, which ended a four-game slide Sunday with a 2-1 victory in 10 innings over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
This will be the first West Coast trip of the season for the White Sox, who are 5-12 at Safeco Field since 2006.
Hudson had trouble in his first start of the season on July 11 against the Kansas City Royals. He allowed five earned runs in four innings for a whopping 11.25 ERA, but received a no-decision in Chicago’s 15-5 rout.
Manager Ozzie Guillen said he is pulling for Hudson, a 2008 fifth-round draft pick by the White Sox who has worked his way up from rookie league.
Pauley allowed three runs - just one earned - in five innings of a 6-1 loss to the Yankees. While not spectacular, manager Don Wakamatsu said Pauley deserved another start.
Pauley, who made his major-league debut with Boston on May 31, 2006, is 0-4 with a 7.47 ERA in his major-league career.
The White Sox (50-41) have been among the hottest teams in baseball the past six weeks, going 25-5 before the All-Star break.
An impressive mark to be certain, but they left Chicago steamed after allowing Minnesota to score four runs in the ninth inning of Sunday’s 7-6 loss. Michael Cuddyer scored the winning run on a throwing error by center fielder Alex Rios.
Minnesota won three of four games from the White Sox, moving 1 1/2 games behind the White Sox for the AL Central lead.
The White Sox swept the Mariners in a three-game series in late April at U.S. Cellular Field, winning all three games by one run and twice winning on walkoff homers by Rios and Andruw Jones.
One-time Mariners closer J.J. Putz, who is now used in short relief by the White Sox, has thrown 24 consecutive scoreless innings - tying Shingo Takatsu’s 2004 mark for the most in franchise history.
Putz last gave up a run on May 7 when Toronto’s Alex Gonzalez hit a three-run homer in the 12th inning of a 7-4 victory.