Seattle @ Florida preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 25, 2011 ) Seattle 2, Florida 4

THE STORY: Hanley Ramirez’s bat is showing signs of life and the Florida shortstop is seeking his fourth multi-hit game in five contests when the Marlins conclude their three-game “home” series against the Seattle Mariners on Sunday. Ramirez had a two-run double in Florida’s 4-2 victory on Saturday and the three-time All-Star has raised his sagging average 18 points to .218 over his four-game hot streak. Ramirez is 7-for-16 during the span and has finally gotten over 20 RBIs on the season. Saturday’s victory raised Florida’s June record to 3-21. The Mariners look to get back to .500 in Sunday’s finale of a three-game series played in Seattle because Florida’s home ballpark was unavailable due to a U2 concert.

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

PITCHING MATCHUP: Mariners RH Doug Fister (3-8, 3.34) vs. Marlins RH Anibal Sanchez (6-1, 2.90).

Fister is 0-3 in four June starts with his last win coming on May 30 against Baltimore. He deserved a better fate in his last outing when he held Washington to one run and three hits in eight innings in a no-decision. Fister has pitched 60 innings over his last eight starts with his shortest outing being 6 2/3 innings. He has never previously faced Florida.

Sanchez has won six straight decisions since losing to Houston on April 10 in his second start of the season. He took no-decisions in his last two starts despite allowing just three runs and 12 hits in 14 innings against Philadelphia and the Los Angeles Angels. Sanchez has walked one or fewer batters in eight of his 15 starts and has 101 strikeouts in 99 1/3 innings. The All-Star candidate has never faced the Mariners.

ABOUT THE MARLINS (34-43): Florida is 2-2 over its last four games after losing 19 of its first 20 games in June. This is just the sixth time in franchise history in which the Marlins have lost 20 or more games in a month. First baseman Gaby Sanchez is a career .359 hitter in 26 interleague games. Second baseman Omar Infante had two hits Saturday after being just 2-for-12 over the previous four games. Outfielder Logan Morrison, who is just 4-for-33 over his last nine games, was given the night off by new manager Jack McKeon. Morrison is hitting just .193 in June. Ramirez is 8-for-19 in five career games against the Mariners.

ABOUT THE MARINERS (38-39): Seattle is just 4-7 over its last 11 games and has scored just 26 runs during that span. The Mariners had just six hits in Saturday’s loss and none until outfielder Carlos Peguero homered with two outs in the fifth. First baseman Justin Smoak didn’t start Saturday due to an illness but appeared as a pinch hitter and was hit by a pitch. Smoak has a team-best 40 RBIs and shares the club home run leadership with catcher Miguel Olivo at 12. Olivo has eight homers in June after hitting two in each of the season’s first two months. Seattle starting pitchers had allowed just six earned runs over an eight-game stretch covering 58 innings prior to Jason Vargas being touched up for four in six innings on Saturday.

FINAL PITCH: “That’s a guy who has got some talent, but just like a lot of these young guys, they’re going to just have to start dedicating themselves and try to get better. So many young guys take that for granted up here. They think they can just show up, and it’s automatically going to happen. It’s not.” – McKeon on the struggling Morrison.