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Orioles-Mariners Preview

Jun 2, 2009 - 6:05 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

Baltimore (24-28) at Seattle (24-28), 10:10 p.m. EDT

Erik Bedard is relatively healthy and pitching the way the Seattle Mariners hoped he would when they traded five players to acquire him from the Baltimore Orioles prior to last season.

The left-hander looks to build off another strong start for the Mariners when he faces his former team for the first time Tuesday night at Safeco Field.

Bedard (3-2, 2.48 ERA) went 40-34 with a 3.83 ERA in just over four full seasons with Baltimore, winning 28 total games in 2006 and 2007. His best season came in his last with the Orioles, when he went 13-5 with a 3.16 ERA and a career-high 221 strikeouts.

In February 2008, Bedard was traded to Seattle in a six-player deal that included current Baltimore mainstays Adam Jones and George Sherrill. Bedard signed a one-year, $7 million deal with the Mariners, but went 6-4 with a 3.67 ERA in 15 starts during an injury-plagued 2008 season that ended in July because of shoulder problems.

Bedard was scheduled to start in Baltimore on April 6, 2008, but was scratched with a hip injury.

"I haven't thought about it," Bedard said of facing his old team. "It's been what, a year and half now?"

Despite some hamstring tightness last month, Bedard has remained healthy and not allowed more than three runs in any of his nine starts. He gave up one run and five hits while striking out five in 6 2-3 innings of a 6-1 victory at Oakland on Wednesday.

"I would expect Erik Bedard would be at the top of his game," Orioles manager Dave Trembley said.

A lack of run support, however, has plagued Bedard and the rest of the Mariners' staff this season. Seattle's 197 runs are the fewest in the AL and its 1-0 loss to Baltimore on Monday marked the fifth time it was shut out.

Jones doubled and scored on Aubrey Huff's sacrifice fly in the sixth and Sherrill pitched a perfect ninth to convert his 11th save and seventh in his last seven chances. Rich Hill, Jim Johnson and Sherrill held the Mariners (24-28) to two hits.

Baltimore (24-28), which bounced back after losing the final two games of a 5-2 homestand, had gone 17 straight innings without scoring until the sixth.

Jones, who's hitting .344 on the season, is 13 for 37 (.351) with six RBIs and six runs scored in 10 games against his former team. He has never faced Bedard.

"It's going to be fun to face him," Jones said. "He's still one of the toughest pitchers to face. And why not want to face one of the toughest pitchers?"

David Hernandez (1-0, 1.59) looks to build off a solid major league debut when he takes the ball for the Orioles.

The right-hander allowed one run and five hits while walking four in 5 2-3 innings of a 5-1 home win over Detroit on Thursday. Hernandez became the fourth Baltimore rookie to win his major league debut this season.

Hernandez, who turns 24 next week, went 3-1 with a 2.91 ERA and 60 strikeouts in eight starts at Triple-A Norfolk before being called up.

"It's nice to be here," Hernandez told the Orioles' official Web site. "It's more than I expected."

Though the Mariners have lost two in a row, Hernandez will try to help the Orioles prevent Ichiro Suzuki from extending his hitting streak to a franchise-record 26th straight game.

Suzuki, who doubled Monday to tie his career-high streak set in 2007, is batting .400 in his last 25 games, and is a lifetime .370 hitter versus the Orioles.