Chicago @ Seattle preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 29, 2013 ) Chi. Cubs 5, Seattle 3

Alfonso Soriano’s bat is heating up just as the trade rumors are picking up steam. The 37-year-old Chicago outfielder hit a game-winning, two-run homer in the 11th inning of Saturday’s victory and will attempt to produce a third consecutive strong performance when the Cubs conclude a three-game road series against the Seattle Mariners on Sunday. Soriano is 5-for-9 with two home runs in the first two contests after entering the series with just seven on the season.

Reclamation project Jeremy Bonderman seeks his fifth consecutive strong start after a rocky Seattle debut. Bonderman, who missed each of the past two seasons due to shoulder and elbow surgeries, allowed seven runs and nine hits in 4 2/3 innings against Minnesota on June 2 before going on a roll. Soriano had three hits and three RBIs on Saturday and Nate Schierholtz went 2-for-5 after being hitless in 12 at-bats over his previous three games.

TV: 4:10 p.m. ET, CSN (Chicago), ROOT Sports (Seattle)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Cubs RH Edwin Jackson (3-10, 5.84 ERA) vs. Mariners RH Jeremy Bonderman (1-1, 3.30)

Jackson is 3-0 with a 0.40 ERA in three career starts against Seattle, the most recent one coming in 2009 as a member of the Detroit Tigers. He has lost back-to-back outings, allowing 10 runs in 10 innings while falling to St. Louis and Milwaukee. Jackson is 2-5 with a 5.01 ERA in eight road starts this season.

Bonderman has allowed just four runs in 25 1/3 innings over his last four starts but has just one win and three no-decisions to show for it. He is 1-0 with a 1.40 ERA and 0.93 WHIP in three home outings. Bonderman never has faced the Cubs.

WALK-OFFS

1. Cubs SS Starlin Castro also homered Saturday as Chicago has gone deep in a season-high nine consecutive contests.

2. Seattle’s Dustin Ackley (left thumb) will miss the series finale after being injured in the ninth inning on Saturday diving for a ball while playing center field.

3. X-rays on Cubs OF Ryan Sweeney (ribs) came back negative. He left Saturday’s game after running into the center-field fence.

PREDICTION: Mariners 7, Cubs 5