Kansas City @ Seattle preview
Safeco Field
Last Meeting ( Sep 23, 2013 ) Kansas City 6, Seattle 5
Even with the odds stacked against the Kansas City Royals making their postseason appearance since 1985, they aren’t going away easily. The Royals will try to extend their unlikely push toward the playoffs on Tuesday when they continue their three-game set at the Seattle Mariners. Kansas City got a walk-off grand slam from Justin Maxwell in the 10th inning to defeat Texas on Sunday and a go-ahead two-out double from Salvador Perez in the 12th to down the Mariners in the opener on Monday.
The Royals’ most recent win improved their mark in extra-inning affairs to 11-4 and left them three games behind Cleveland for the final American League wild-card spot. On the other end of the spectrum is Seattle, which has dropped 15 of its team record-tying 21 extra-inning games – including eight straight – and played five consecutive one-run games, losing four. The Mariners are 3-12 over their last 15 contests and 6-16 overall in September.
TV: 10:10 p.m. ET, FSN (Kansas City), ROOT (Seattle)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Royals LH Bruce Chen (8-3, 3.13 ERA) vs. Mariners LH James Paxton (2-0, 2.12)
Chen won for the third time in his last four decisions, allowing two runs on four hits over five frames in Wednesday’s 7-2 home victory over Cleveland. The outing continued a solid stretch for the 36-year-old, who is 5-3 with a 3.45 ERA in his last 13 starts. Chen held the Mariners to two runs over six innings in his only meeting against them on Sept. 3 and is 4-1 with a 3.21 ERA in 14 all-time appearances (10 starts).
After posting victories in his first two career starts against Tampa Bay and St. Louis, Paxton settled for a no-decision in Thursday’s 5-4 loss at Detroit. The highly-touted 24-year-old walked four during his 95-pitch outing while yielding three runs on five hits in five innings. Paxton limited the Rays to one earned run over six frames in his only other home start and is holding right-handed batters to a .145 average.
WALK-OFFS
1. Perez is 9-for-15 in his last four games versus the Mariners and has registered three hits in three of them.
2. Seattle CF Abraham Almonte has reached base safely in all 17 games to begin his major-league career, the second-longest such streak in club history.
3. With his next save, Royals closer Greg Holland will break the club record of 45 he shares with Dan Quisenberry (1983) and Jeff Montgomery (1993).
PREDICTION: Mariners 4, Royals 3