Oakland @ Seattle preview
T-Mobile Park
Last Meeting ( Aug 10, 2010 ) Oakland 0, Seattle 2
Any chance the Seattle Mariners had of making an impact in the American League West race ended long ago, and the chances for the Oakland Athletics are dwindling each day.
Oakland will try to avoid a three-game sweep by the Mariners in the series finale Wednesday afternoon. After Tuesday night’s 2-0 shutout loss, Oakland fell into third place in the AL West, nine games behind the division-leading Texas Rangers.
The Athletics continue to struggle on the road against the Mariners, having lost 16 of 18 games at Safeco Field dating to Aug. 24, 2008.
Seattle has won three consecutive games for the first time since June 16-23, when it won six in a row, and will try to improve to 3-0 under interim manager Daren Brown.
In a matchup of left-handers, the Mariners will start Luke French (1-2, 4.73 ERA) against Dallas Braden (6-8, 3.75) in this afternoon’s game.
Mariners ace Felix Hernandez recorded a career-high 13 strikeouts in Tuesday’s victory, allowing five hits in eight shutout innings. He was at 110 pitches when Brown opted to take him out.
The victory was Hernandez’s first since July 10. The 13 strikeouts were the most by a Mariners pitcher since Randy Johnson struck out 15 on July 11, 1998, against the Anaheim Angels.
French is 1-1 with a 3.21 ERA since being recalled from Triple-A Tacoma on July 28. He threw a career-high eight innings, allowing one run in a 7-1 victory Friday over the Kansas City Royals and Zack Greinke, the 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner.
French was 1-1 with a 7.71 ERA in two starts against Oakland in 2009.
Braden recorded a perfect game May 9, but lost his next five decisions and has had a mostly inconsistent season. He allowed four runs on five hits in six innings of a 5-1 loss to Texas on Friday.
Braden will be making his first start in Seattle since Sept. 11, 2007. He is 0-1 with an 8.71 ERA in three starts at Safeco Field.
The left-hander will have to be wary of Seattle second baseman Chone Figgins, who has a season-high nine-game hitting streak. Figgins is batting .441 (15-of-34) during the streak. He is 8-for-16 lifetime against Braden.
Oakland center fielder Coco Crisp is hitting .571 (8-for-14) in his last four games. In his last 16 games, he is 10-for-21 with two double and a homer.
Seattle shortstop Jack Wilson confirmed he will miss the rest of the season. Wilson will have surgery Wednesday after breaking his right hand when he slipped and fell in his bathroom Sunday morning.