Texas @ Seattle preview
T-Mobile Park
Last Meeting ( Jun 10, 2010 ) Seattle 3, Texas 12
Two teams heading toward historic seasons begin a three-game series on Tuesday night when the AL West-leading Texas Rangers visit the anemic Seattle Mariners.
Texas (61-44) leads the division by eight games over the Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and is on pace to win 94 games - one off the team record set in 1999.
Meanwhile, Seattle (39-67) has lost seven in a row and finished July with a 6-22 mark, tying for the worst monthly record in franchise history. The Mariners are on pace for 102 losses, which would be the second-worst in team history (104).
Should Seattle continue to play at its July winning percentage (.214), the Mariners would lose a team-record 111 games and be among the 10 worst teams of all-time.
Manager Don Wakamatsu, whose job status has come under severe scrutiny, has trotted out 27 different lineups in 27 consecutive games in an attempt to solve his team’s woes. Seattle is last in almost every major offensive category and has not scored in 21 innings.
The Rangers have been widely trumpeted as the team making the majors’ best midseason moves as the non-waiver trading deadline passed on Saturday. Their biggest prize was getting left-hander Cliff Lee from Seattle on July 9.
Lee is the kind of pitcher that makes the Rangers not only a threat to end their mark of never having won a playoff series but legitimate pennant and World Series contenders. He helped the Philadelphia Phillies reach the World Series last season and was the 2008 AL Cy Young Award winner.
Tuesday’s game also should see the return of Texas left fielder Josh Hamilton, who missed two games after getting a cortisone shot in his sore right knee (tendinitis).
The three-time All-Star leads the majors with a .362 average and has hit .456 since the All-Star break. This season against the Mariners, Hamilton is 13-for-38 (.342) with four doubles, a triple, three homers, 11 RBIs and five walks.
Right fielder Nelson Cruz has been almost as productive as Hamilton. He had a 19-game hitting streak snapped Sunday but had hit .385 (30-for-78) with 18 RBIs during the streak.
The task of shutting down the Rangers, who have won eight of 10 against Seattle this season, goes to left-hander Jason Vargas (6-5, 3.20).
Vargas is 0-2 with a 6.16 ERA in three starts against Texas. He is coming off a rough game against Chicago, allowing five runs and three homers in 4 1/3 innings. Vargas received a no-decision in the 6-5 loss.
Seattle will try to break its losing streak against right-hander Colby Lewis (9-7, 3.40 ERA), and it won’t be easy.
Lewis is 2-0 with a 0.78 ERA in three starts against Seattle this season. He had 10 strikeouts in nine innings of a 2-0, 12-inning victory at Safeco Field on April 30.
Should the Mariners get to Lewis, Texas relievers have retired 11 consecutive batters.