Kansas City @ Seattle preview
T-Mobile Park
Last Meeting ( Apr 17, 2011 ) Seattle 3, Kansas City 2
THE STORY: Two of the worst teams in the American League open a four-game series Thursday when the Seattle Mariners host the Kansas City Royals. The Mariners are in last place in the AL West and even superstar Ichiro Suzuki (career-low .271 average) is among the Seattle players enduring a rough season. Seattle has had 18 rookies on its roster. The Royals are just a half-game ahead of the last-place Minnesota Twins in the AL Central and recently clinched their ninth straight losing season. Kansas City won three of four from Seattle when the teams met in April.
TV: 10:10 p.m. ET, FSKC (Kansas City), ROOT (Seattle).
PITCHING MATCHUP: Royals RH Luke Hochevar (10-10, 4.76 ERA) vs. Mariners LH Jason Vargas (7-13, 4.59 ERA)
Hochevar has won two straight starts and was splendid in his last outing against the Cleveland Indians when he gave up one unearned run and three hits while striking out eight. He has fanned 20 and walked just four over his last three outings. Hochevar is 5-2 with a 3.51 ERA since the All-Star break. He defeated the Mariners in April when he allowed only one run and one hit over seven innings. Hochevar is 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA in three career outings against Seattle. Thursday’s start will be his first at Safeco Field.
Vargas has lost three straight decisions and eight of his last nine. He lost to Oakland in his last outing when he gave up five runs and six hits in five innings. Vargas has allowed 21 earned runs in 21 2/3 innings over his last four starts and has a 7.13 ERA in 10 starts since the All-Star break. Vargas is making his first start against Kansas City this season. He is 1-1 with a 5.54 ERA in two career starts against the Royals.
ABOUT THE MARINERS (59-83): Trayvon Robinson’s homer was Seattle’s only hit in Wednesday’s 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Angels. It is the 10th time this season that the Mariners have been held to three or fewer hits. Seattle has scored just 18 runs over its last eight games. Ichiro was hitless in four at-bats and is 39 hits shy of 200 with 20 games remaining after reaching the milestone in each of the last 10 seasons. Rookie Dustin Ackley went hitless in three at-bats to end a 10-game hitting streak. Third baseman Alex Liddi went hitless in his debut as he became the first Italian-born player to play in a major-league contest.
ABOUT THE ROYALS (60-84): The four-game series in Seattle ends stretch in which Kansas City plays 17 of 20 games on the road. The Royals are 7-6 in the 13 road games and lost two of the three home games it played. One of the road losses occurred Wednesday when Kansas City had just two hits while being blanked by the Oakland Athletics. The first 17 batters went down in order against Guillermo Moscoso until rookie Salvador Perez singled with two outs in the eighth. Rookie Eric Hosmer was hitless in four at-bats after going 7-for-14 over the previous three games. It was only Hosmer’s second hitless contest in the last 16 games.
FINAL PITCH: Royals right fielder Jeff Francoeur is known for having one of baseball’s strongest arms. He took it to another level on Wednesday when he threw out Oakland rookie Michael Taylor at first to take away a base hit. Francoeur has 95 career outfield assists, including 15 this season.