Tampa Bay @ Seattle preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 29, 2011 ) Tampa Bay 8, Seattle 0

THE STORY: The Tampa Bay Rays are on the fringe of the American League East race after a recent slump. The Rays lost five of six games before winning two straight, while Boston and New York have lost back-to-back games, leaving Tampa 9 1/2 games behind the Red Sox and seven behind the Yankees. They face struggling Seattle again at Safeco Field on Saturday afternoon, after dealing the Mariners their 18th loss in 19 games, 8-0 in Friday's opener.

TV: 4:10 p.m. ET, Fox.

PITCHING MATCHUP: Rays RH Alex Cobb (3-0, 2.57) vs. Mariners RH Michael Pineda (8-7, 3.64).

Cobb has allowed just one earned run in 13 innings in two starts since recently being recalled. He pitched seven shutout innings while beating Kansas City in his last outing. He gave up six hits before leaving with a blister. Cobb is making his eighth major-league start. Counting three June starts, Cobb has allowed just five earned runs in 31 1/3 innings over his last five outings. He has never faced Seattle. Pineda has struggled mightily in his last three outings after compiling a 2.58 ERA in his first 17 starts. Pineda has given up 19 runs and 21 hits over the last 15 2/3 innings. He yielded seven runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings in his last start while losing to Boston. Pineda has just one victory over his last six starts. Saturday’s outing will be his first career start against Tampa Bay.

ABOUT THE MARINERS (44-61): Seattle was blanked for the fifth time this month. The Mariners are 5-19 in July with two games left. Shortstop Brendan Ryan was hitless in three at-bats as his 11-game hitting streak ended. Ichiro Suzuki went 0-for-4 after hitting .433 over the previous three games. Justin Smoak -- who hasn't homered since June 12 -- and Miguel Olivo each struck out three times. Veteran Jack Cust was designated for assignment Friday when Seattle activated pitcher Erik Bedard (knee) from the disabled list. Cust was hitting .213 with three homers. Outfielder Ryan Langerhans, who was at Triple-A Tacoma, was sold to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

ABOUT THE RAYS (55-50): Tampa Bay has scored 18 runs in winning its last two games. Ben Zobrist had two hits and hit his 14th homer while extending his hitting streak to nine games Friday. Zobrist is batting .405 during the streak and leads the AL with a .330 road average. The homer was Zobrist’s major-league leading 52nd extra-base hit. Casey Kotchman had three hits to raise his average to .329. Kotchman is hitting .344 in 37 career games against the Mariners -- for whom he batted just .217 in 2010. Sean Rodriguez had two hits for his first multihit game since July 4. B.J. Upton, who is being mentioned in trade speculation, had one hit Friday and is 5-for-45 over his last 11 games.

FINAL PITCH: The Rays are going with a six-man starting rotation, and the Mariners are pondering going the same route after keeping rookie Blake Beavan in the majors upon activating Bedard. With Seattle out of the AL West race after a 17-game losing streak, manager Eric Wedge might opt for the approach to save wear and tear on Pineda and 2010 Cy Young Award winner Felix Hernandez.