Kansas City @ Seattle preview
T-Mobile Park
Last Meeting ( Sep 9, 2011 ) Kansas City 3, Seattle 7
THE STORY: Ichiro Suzuki's pursuit of history received a major shot in the arm Friday night. The Japanese star will look to build on that momentum Saturday as the Seattle Mariners host the Kansas City Royals in the resumption of their weekend series at Safeco Field. Rookie phenom Michael Pineda gets the call for the Mariners against veteran righty Felipe Paulino.
TV: 10:10 p.m. ET, RT
PITCHING MATCHUP: Royals RH Felipe Paulino (2-10, 4.60 ERA) vs. Mariners RH Michael Pineda (9-9, 3.74 ERA)
Paulino has one of baseball's worst career records, and didn't give himself a chance to improve his win-loss ledger in his last outing. The 27-year-old was tagged for six runs over 4 1/3 innings, walking six. He was fortunate to escape with a no-decision in the 11-6 Royals victory, leaving his record an ugly 8-31 for his career. This is his first encounter with Seattle.
The Mariners have been cautious with Pineda's innings over the course of the season, and have been rewarded with solid outings into the month of September. The hard-throwing 22-year-old deserved better fates in each of his previous three outings, going 0-2 with a no-decision despite not allowing more than three runs in any of them. He won his only prior start against the Royals.
ABOUT THE ROYALS (60-86): Little went right for Kansas City in Friday's 7-3 defeat at the hands of the Mariners, but Jeff Francoeur's defensive display left Royals fans with something to cheer. Francoeur leapt above the outfield wall to deny Dustin Ackley a home run, despite replays showing a fan making contact with the ball before Francoeur's catch - a result that should have ruled the play a homer. Francoeur later snagged a line drive off the bat of Ackley to deny extra bases. The Royals had all sorts of trouble with Pineda the first time they met him, managing just a run on three hits over six innings.
ABOUT THE MARINERS (61-83): Ichiro is the only man in history with 10 straight 200-hit seasons - and Friday's outburst helped keep his quest for No. 11 alive. The 37-year-old went 4-for-5, giving him 167 hits with 18 games remaining. He'll need to maintain a blistering pace over the final three weeks of the season, but Ichiro - a career .327 hitter - has shown in the past that he's capable of doing just that. He has also showed some uncharasteric pop in the series with the Royals, homering in consecutive games for the first time in more than four years. Only five current Seattle players have faced Paulino, hitting a collective 4-for-10 with two RBIs.
FINAL PITCH: A victory Saturday would make Pineda the first Mariners rookie with 10 victories since John Halama and Freddy Garcia both reached double digits in 1999. Pineda is expected to make just one more start after Saturday.