Boston Red Sox v. Seattle Mariners
Safeco Park, Seattle, WA
Boston heads north from Anaheim to Seattle for a three-game series against the Seattle Mariners.
Seattle (46-52) is currently in fourth place in the AL West, trailing Texas by 6.5 games. Offensively, they rank 4th in batting (.272 avg.) and 9th in runs scored (437). Led by Ichiro (.350, 3 HRs, 48 RBIs, 73 Rs) as always, the Mariners average 4.5 runs per game. In addition, Adrian Beltre (.249, 9 HRs, 48 RBIs) has contributed, but otherwise, the offense has been lacking. The Red Sox have five batters with more RBIs than Ichiro/Beltre. (Ortiz, 69; Pedroia, 63; Youkilis, 57; Ramirez,56; and Lowell, 53).
Their starting staff has pitched better than expected thanks to the continued growth of Felix Hernandez. The young ace has developed in his fourth season, despite what his record (7-8, 3.55 ERA) might show. Hernandez is joined by veteran Eric Bedard (7-8, 4.01) in an otherwise unremarked rotation. J.J. Putz (24 svs., 2.23 ERA) leads the bullpen that has a 3.97 ERA (11th best in AL).
Pitching Matchups:
7/21: Jon Lester (9-5, 4.01 ERA) v. Carlos Silva (4-6, 4.52)
7/22: Clay Buchholz (8-4, 4.58) v. Jarrod Washburn (5-10, 5.59)
7/23: Josh Beckett (10-4, 3.59) v. Felix Hernandez (7-8, 3.55)
So far this season, the Sox and Mariners have split their six meetings, 3-3.