Seattle @ Boston preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 23, 2011 ) Seattle 1, Boston 3

THE STORY: Even a fabulous start by Blake Beavan on Saturday couldn’t prevent the Seattle Mariners from losing their 14th game in a row, which tied a franchise record. The Mariners, who blew a late 1-0 lead Saturday, look to 22-year-old rookie All-Star Michael Pineda to put a halt to their skid Sunday. The Boston Red Sox, who beat Beavan and the Mariners 3-1 on Saturday, will start 44-year-old Tim Wakefield, who is two wins away from 200 for his career. The Red Sox have won 17 of their last 20 games and gave manager Terry Francona his 1,000th win on Saturday night.

TV: 1:35 p.m. ET, TBS, NESN (Boston), ROOT (Seattle)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Mariners RH Michael Pineda (8-6, 3.24 ERA) vs. Red Sox RH Tim Wakefield (5-3, 4.80).

Although Pineda is having a fine season, he seemed like an odd pick for the All-Star team. Pineda has only two wins in his last 10 starts and his ERA has taken a huge leap in his two outings as he had allowed 12 earned runs in 11 innings. The 6-7 flame thrower has 119 strikeouts in 119 innings, but he has never faced the sizzling Boston lineup. Wakefield got plenty of support in his last outing, but couldn’t make it through five innings to qualify for the win. While Boston pulled out a 15-10 decision over Baltimore, Wakefield was charged with seven runs on nine hits in 4 2/3 innings. Wakefield’s biggest problem lately is controlling his knuckleball early in counts and when he falls behind, he serves up 73 mph fastballs which the opposition has been hammering.

ABOUT THE RED SOX (61-37): Boston leads the majors in runs scored and batting average and they have the red-hot tandem of Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia to thank for it. Pedroia extended his career-high hitting streak to 20 games with two hits Saturday and Ellsbury added two more hits, including a crucial two-run single with two outs in the seventh. Pedroia is over .300 on the season after a poor start and has 10 multi-hit games in his torrid stretch. Ellsbury is just as hot and is batting .319. Kevin Youkilis left Friday’s game with a hand injury, but played Saturday. Boston has outscored the opposition 93-33 in the seventh inning.

ABOUT THE MARINERS (43-57): The Mariners have feasted on Wakefield. The knuckleballer is 4-10 against Seattle and the Mariners have hit 18 homers in his 145 innings against them. While Boston has four starters batting over .300, the only Mariner close to that mark is the recently promoted Dustin Ackley, who had three hits Saturday. Ichiro Suzuki is batting .266, which is 61 points below his career average. Seattle is last in the majors with a team average of .224 and also last in runs - it has 200 less than Boston.

FINAL PITCH: Daniel Bard worked another scoreless inning Saturday. He loaded the bases with none out and got the next three batters. Bard has not allowed a run in 23 straight appearances. Boston leads the American League East by three games over the New York Yankees, and is 8 1/2 games clear of Los Angeles, which trails the Yankees by five in the wild card standings.