Cleveland @ Seattle preview
T-Mobile Park
Last Meeting ( Sep 3, 2010 ) Cleveland 0, Seattle 1
The Seattle Mariners won a game on Friday night that usually they have lost in this wayward season of discontent.
Cleveland Indians hurler Fausto Carmona pitched his third complete game of the year, allowing four hits in eight innings. Those are numbers that seem solid enough for a victory.
They were not because the Mariners needed just one run to beat him as Luke French took a no-hitter into the seventh before Shelley Duncan broke it up with one out in the frame. Relievers Brandon League and David Aardsma helped him finished a three-hit, 1-0 shutout.
Seattle scored in the first inning when Franklin Gutierrez singled in Ichiro Suzuki, who led off with a single and went to second after Chone Figgins walked.
The narrow victory helped the Mariners end a six-game losing streak to Cleveland at Safeco Field.
Seattle will try to put back-to-back wins together on Saturday night when it sends David Pauley (2-6, 4.25 ERA) to the mound against rookie Mitch Talbot (8-11, 4.61 ERA).
Talbot is 0-5 with a 6.23 ERA in his last nine starts. The Mariners roughed him up on Aug. 14 in Cleveland, amassing six runs and eight hits in four innings in a 9-3 victory.
Talbot allowed five runs and 10 hits in five innings in Monday's 10-6 loss in 11 innings to the Chicago White Sox. He has not won since June 27.
Pauley earned a 3-2 victory over the Indians on Aug. 13 at Progressive Field. The right-hander gave up two runs and seven hits in six innings. Still he is 0-2 with a 6.17 ERA in his last two outings.
Pauley has also given up four runs in three straight starts, including a 5-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels in which he gave up a career-high three homers in his sixth inning.
Shin-Soo Choo, who had a two-run homer and three-run double Thursday, had two hits against Pauley in their last matchup.
Off the field, left-hander Ryan Rowland-Smith joined the Mariners after a rehab assignment with Triple-A Tacoma. He had been on the disabled list since late July with a lower back strain.
Rowland-Smith was 1-10 with a 6.96 ERA in 22 appearances, including 19 starts. Interim manager Daren Brown is expected to keep him in the bullpen, although he might get an occasional start.
The last time Rowland-Smith pitched for the Mariners was on July 27. In that contest, he allowed 11 runs and 11 hits in five innings against the White Sox.
Cleveland made a pitching change for Sunday's finale. Justin Masterson went from Cleveland to Indiana for a family matter and his start was pushed back to Tuesday. Right-hander Jeanmar Gomez will get the start Sunday afternoon against Mariners ace Felix Hernandez.