Seattle @ Minnesota preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 21, 2011 ) Seattle 5, Minnesota 4

THE STORY: The Seattle Mariners certainly know a thing or two about tough times, but it's their opponent who is truly miserable this time. The Minnesota Twins are mired in an 11-game losing skid, which represents the third-longest in franchise history. Minnesota will look to end the slide in the series finale Thursday when it sends righthander Anthony Swarzak to the mound. Rookie Blake Beavan provides the opposition for Seattle, which has posted a pair of 5-4 victories in the first two games of the series. The Mariners have won five of the seven meetings between the teams this season.

TV: 1:10 p.m. ET, ROOT

PITCHING MATCHUP: Mariners RH Blake Beavan (5-5, 3.92 ERA) vs. Twins RH Anthony Swarzak (3-7, 4.52 ERA)

Beavan collected his second straight win with his best outing to date. The 22-year-old rookie scattered four hits over eight shutout innings in a 4-0 victory over the American League West-leading Texas Rangers last Friday. Beavan hasn't walked a batter in three starts and has only permitted two homers in his last five games. He has yet to face the Twins in his young career.

Winless since Aug. 3, Swarzak endured his fourth straight loss in embarrassing fashion. The 26-year-old yielded seven runs on seven hits in 1 2/3 innings in a 10-4 loss to the Cleveland Indians on Saturday. Swarzak suffered his lone defeat to Seattle while pitching in relief. He yielded one run on two hits in two-thirds of an inning on May 23.

ABOUT THE MARINERS (66-89): Rookie Trayvon Robinson snapped a tie with a two-run single in the seventh inning as Seattle won for the fifth time in seven games. The Mariners' offense didn't kick in until the sixth, when rookies Kyle Seager and Dustin Ackley recorded Seattle's first hits of the night with back-to-back RBI doubles. Justin Smoak returned from a groin injury, serving as the team's designated hitter, and went 1-for-3.

ABOUT THE TWINS (59-95): Staked to an early two-run lead and with Kevin Slowey in the midst of an early no-hit bid, manager Ron Gardenhire's club looked to put its troubles in its rearview mirror. As it has so many times this season, the bottom fell out and the Twins suffered their 16th loss in 17 games. The current 11-game skid is the team’s longest since dropping 14 in a row from May 19-June 2, 1982. The Twins need to win four of their final eight games to avoid the second 100-loss season in team history. Trevor Plouffe recorded his first three-hit performance of the season on Wednesday and collected his third double in two games. Rookie outfielder Ben Revere is 15-for-36 during his eight-game hitting streak.

FINAL PITCH: "At this point in this clubhouse, it’s like we’re watching the fate of Sisyphus himself. Get to the top of that hill and just can’t seem to figure it out, so it’s been pretty tough." – Slowey, who was referencing Greek mythology. The story centers around a king who was punished for eternity by pushing a boulder up a steep hill only to watch it roll back down to the bottom every time.