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Twins-Mariners Preview

Jun 7, 2009 - 3:14 AM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior Writer

Minnesota (28-28) at Seattle (26-29), 4:10 p.m. EDT

Over the past month, Seattle Mariners left-hander Erik Bedard has been one of the toughest pitchers in the majors. He hasn't, however, had the same success against the Minnesota Twins in his career.

Bedard looks to win three consecutive starts for the first time in nearly two years with his first career victory over the Twins in Sunday's finale at Safeco Field.

After making 15 starts during an injury-plagued 2008 season that ended in July because of shoulder problems, Bedard (4-2, 2.37 ERA) is finally pitching the way the Mariners (27-29) envisioned when they acquired him from Baltimore in a six-player deal in February 2008.

The left-hander has yielded two runs or less in each of his last five starts and has the majors' sixth-best ERA. He's trying to win three consecutive starts for the first time since reeling off six straight from June 21-Aug. 5, 2007, with the Orioles.

On Tuesday, Bedard allowed one run and four hits with seven strikeouts in 6 1-3 innings of an 8-2 win over Baltimore, his first appearance against his former team.

"I feel fine and I'm throwing strikes. That's pretty much all I can do," said Bedard, eight-plus months removed from shoulder surgery.

With Tuesday's win, Bedard has now defeated every AL team - except Minnesota (28-29).

In nine career starts versus the Twins, Bedard is 0-5 with a 4.80 ERA. He's made two starts at Minnesota this season, but didn't factor in the decision in either, giving up five runs and striking out 12 in 9 2-3 innings in those contests.

Seattle rebounded for a 2-1 win over the Twins on Saturday after losing Friday's opener 2-1 in 10 innings. The Mariners have won six of nine after winning six of their previous 25.

Ken Griffey Jr. drove in Ichiro Suzuki with a two-out double in the eighth inning Saturday for Seattle, which has won 15 of its major league-leading 27 one-run games. Suzuki finished with three hits - including an RBI double - a day after his club-record 27-game hitting streak ended.

Minnesota All-Star catcher Joe Mauer, batting .419 on the season, was hitless in three at-bats Saturday, falling to 2 for 16 in his last five games at Safeco Field.

The Twins are 7-17 away from the Metrodome in 2009, but can still win their first road series since taking two of three in Cleveland April 24-26 with a victory Sunday.

Kevin Slowey (8-1, 3.97) takes the ball looking to lead Minnesota to its fifth victory in seven games.

Slowey has allowed two earned runs in winning each of his last three starts and is 4-0 with a 2.41 ERA in his past five. On Tuesday, the right-hander gave up two runs and six hits in 6 2-3 innings of a 4-3 victory over Cleveland to move into a second-place tie with Kansas City's Zack Greinke for the AL lead in wins. Slowey didn't win his eighth game of 2008 until Aug. 8.

"The fact that I have eight wins means our team has eight more wins," he told the Twins' official Web site. "That's what it's all about."

In his first start of the season on April 8, Slowey wasn't particularly sharp in a 6-5 win over the Mariners, giving up five runs and nine hits in six innings.