Tampa Bay @ Seattle preview
T-Mobile Park
Last Meeting ( Jul 30, 2011 ) Tampa Bay 2, Seattle 3
THE STORY: The Seattle Mariners began July by winning back-to-back series against the San Diego Padres and the Oakland Athletics. They look to complete the disastrous month by winning two of three against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Mariners and Rays finish their three-game series Sunday with host Seattle having a chance at winning a series for the first time since the Oakland series July 4-6. Seattle allowed one hit Saturday to edge Tampa Bay 3-2 after being routed 8-0 in Friday’s opener. Michael Pineda struck out 10 in 6 1/3 innings as Seattle improved to 6-19 in July. The Mariners have won two of three since ending a 17-game losing skid.
TV: 4:10 p.m. ET, SunSports (Tampa Bay), ROOT (Seattle)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rays RH Jeremy Hellickson (9-7, 3.27 ERA) vs. Mariners LH Jason Vargas (6-9, 4.09).
Hellickson’s only career outing against Seattle was a winning one as he allowed only one run and three hits in 7 1/3 innings June 4. He then lost four straight starts before winning his last two decisions. Hellickson received a no-decision in his last outing Monday when he gave up three runs and four hits in five innings against Oakland. Vargas has lost four straight starts and lasted a combined seven innings in his last two outings. He gave up five runs in three innings against the Toronto Blue Jays on July 20 and eight runs (four earned) in four innings against the New York Yankees on Monday. Vargas tossed a four-hit shutout against Tampa Bay on June 3. He is 1-2 with a 3.25 ERA in five career appearances (four starts) against the Rays. Ben Zobrist is 5-for-14 against Vargas.
ABOUT THE MARINERS (45-61): Rookie Dustin Ackley hit a two-run homer and scored the go-ahead run Saturday. Ackley is batting .310 in 35 big-league games. Mike Carp delivered the tiebreaking single. Brandon League pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 24th save and his first since July 4. Seattle dealt starter Doug Fister and reliever David Pauley to Detroit for outfielder Casper Wells, lefthanded pitcher Charlie Furbush, highly regarded third-base prospect Francisco Martinez and a player to be named. Wells and Furbush will join the Mariners on Sunday and Martinez is headed to Double A Jackson. Seattle also recalled reliever Dan Cortes from Triple A Tacoma and sent down reliever Aaron Laffey.
ABOUT THE RAYS (55-51): Tampa Bay had 18 runs and 20 hits in its previous two games before being held to one hit Saturday. Zobrist had Tampa Bay’s only hit against Pineda and drove in both runs to stretch his hitting streak to 10 games. Zobrist is batting .390 during the hot stretch. B.J. Upton was hitless in three at-bats and is batting only .104 over the last 12 games. Rookie Desmond Jennings is hitless in seven at-bats in the series after going 11-for-22 during the first six games after being recalled from Triple A Durham. The Rays haven’t put together three consecutive victories since a four-game winning streak from June 22-26.
FINAL PITCH: “It’s a good trade. We feel like we got a couple of good quality players back, both for now and the future,” Seattle manager Eric Wedge, on the deal with Detroit.