Seattle @ Baltimore preview
Oriole Park at Camden Yards
Last Meeting ( May 13, 2010 ) Seattle 5, Baltimore 6
Two of baseball’s worst teams get together in Baltimore this week as the Orioles entertain the Seattle Mariners for a three-game set.
The Mariners come into town on the heels of a 9-1 rout at the hands of the Cleveland Indians on Sunday, but it hasn’t all been bad for the struggling Mariners (46-72). While they still remain buried deep in the AL West basement, it seems as though they’re playing with more passion since manager Don Wakamatsu was relieved of his duties earlier this month.
Prior to Sunday’s loss, Seattle had won five of its last six games thanks to some timely hitting and solid pitching. The Mariners held Oakland to just six runs over three games to take two of three from the Athletics.
Offense continues to be the squad’s major issue. As a team, the Mariners are hitting just .236 and producing only 3.25 runs per game - and if it weren’t for the team’s speed, those numbers would look even uglier. Ichiro Suzuki and Chone Figgins have combined for 59 of the club’s 103 stolen bases – good for third best in the majors.
With numbers like those, it's pretty easy to see that the pitching staff is shouldering a big burden.
That problem falls on Doug Fister (4-8, 3.86 ERA) on Monday. The 6-foot-8 right-hander has been solid in four of his last five starts, holding the opposition to three or fewer runs in all but one of those outings.
With that said, the one off night wasn’t pretty as the Texas Rangers tagged him for seven earned runs in 4 2/3 innings in an 11-6 loss on Wednesday. Fister faces a much less potent attack on Monday, though.
The Orioles average just 3.68 runs per game and have been held to five or fewer runs in eight of their last 10 outings. Baltimore also heads into this tilt having lost three of its last four, but the red-hot Brad Bergesen might be the best guy on the staff to get things turned around.
The 23-year-old is coming off a complete-game two-hitter against the Indians on Wednesday. Bergesen only needed 102 pitches to finish off the Indians in a 3-1 win and also managed to keep his pitch count under the century mark in his previous two starts.
He held the Kansas City Royals to just a pair of runs through seven innings before taking the no-decision and was stuck with another no-decision the next time out despite holding the Chicago White Sox to a single run through seven innings on Aug. 6.
Baltimore holds the advantage in recent meetings with the Mariners, taking two of three when the clubs last got together back in May.