Seattle @ Cleveland preview
Progressive Field
Last Meeting ( Mar 25, 2010 ) Seattle 1, Cleveland 3
The Seattle Mariners weren’t very good at winning on the road during the first four months of the season. Now they’ll have plenty of time under interim manager Daren Brown to try and figure some things out.
The disappointing Mariners begin a season-long 12-game road trip Friday night when they open a three-game weekend series at Cleveland.
Seattle is an American League-worst 15-39 on the road and has lost seven straight away from Safeco Field. In fact, the Mariners haven’t even scored in their last 21 innings on the road.
But they managed to take two of three from the Oakland Athletics in their first series since Brown replaced the fired Don Wakamatsu. The Mariners have actually won their last two series and have two more winnable series in front of them at Cleveland and Baltimore before heading to New York and Boston.
David Pauley will start tonight for the Mariners and is still searching for his first major league victory. The 27-year-old is 0-7 in 18 career appearances (10 starts) dating to 2006. He has made nine appearances (five starts) for the Mariners this season, but Seattle has only won one game in which he appeared – July 24 against Boston, his former team.
Speaking of former teams, Franklin Gutierrez will face his old team for the first time this season after really hurting the Indians last year.
Gutierrez, traded to Seattle prior to last season, batted .282 against Cleveland last year with a pair of homers, eight RBIs and three stolen bases in 10 games. Gutierrez is 10-for-31 with six RBIs in his last nine games.
Indians starter Fausto Carmona is searching to regain the first-half form that made him Cleveland’s lone All-Star. Carmona has a 6.88 ERA in losing two of his last three starts, but he has fared well against the Mariners in his career. In three starts, he is 2-0 with a 2.18 ERA.
Seattle continues to struggle offensively, ranking last in the league with 370 runs. The Mariners are batting just .233 with runners in scoring position.
The Indians ended a four-game losing skid with a 4-1 victory Thursday over the Baltimore Orioles. Michael Brantley had four hits to raise his average to .198, but since being recalled from Triple-A Columbus on Aug. 6, he is batting .375 (9-for-24) with a homer, three RBIs and seven runs scored.
This is the first series of the year between two of the worst teams in the league. The Mariners have held down last place in the AL West most of the season, while Cleveland’s victory Thursday allowed it to escape last place and slip a game ahead of the Kansas City Royals in the Central.