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Mariners-Dodgers Preview

Jun 27, 2009 - 6:48 AM By MIKE LIPKA STATS Writer

Seattle (37-36) at Los Angeles (48-26), 10:10 p.m. EDT

Even with the centerpiece of their lineup absent for the last 45 games, the Los Angeles Dodgers have remained the best team in baseball, opening up a commanding lead in the NL West.

Saturday, however, they'll run into a man currently looking like the best pitcher in the game.

One night after Andre Ethier and the Dodgers pounded the team with the AL's best ERA, Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez will try to continue a string of impressive starts and help his team bounce back at Dodger Stadium.

Hernandez (7-3, 2.74 ERA) has long had the talent to dominate major league hitters, and in his fifth season - still at age 23 - he's finally looking like a contender for the AL Cy Young Award.

In his last six outings, Hernandez is 3-0 with a 1.00 ERA that's the best in the majors over that span. He has helped lower Seattle's AL-best team ERA to 3.71, and he now has 98 strikeouts in 101 2-3 innings this year.

Hernandez had allowed a maximum of one earned run in five straight starts before Sunday, when he tossed seven shutout innings against Arizona before allowing a two-run home run to Mark Reynolds in the eighth to squander his chance at the victory.

Seattle still won the game 3-2, and Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu was thrilled with his big right-hander.

"To me, it was probably his best overall performance as far as just competing and battling," Wakamatsu told his team's official Web site. "I don't think he had his best stuff or his best command, but he gave us a chance to win."

It could be tougher against the Dodgers. In his lone previous appearance against Los Angeles, Hernandez allowed four runs in 5 2-3 innings of a 4-2 loss June 22, 2006.

The current Dodgers are tied for the NL lead with 373 runs. Most of those have come without Manny Ramirez, who is eligible to return from a 50-game drug suspension next Friday.

Ethier, who is 2 for 3 against Hernandez, provided more than enough pop in the series opener, driving in a career-high six runs thanks to his first three-homer game in Los Angeles' 8-2 win.

"It was a lot of fun. It's something I never dreamed of before," said Ethier, who has hit 13 of his 14 homers at home. "It's one of those unlikely things that's a nice individual accomplishment, and if it helps the team and makes the outcome better for us, so be it. But I don't expect home runs now just because of this."

The victory helped the Dodgers (48-26) avoid their first three-game losing streak of the season and boosted their lead in the NL West - and the NL overall - to eight games.

In addition to their strong lineup, Los Angeles leads the majors with a 3.63 team ERA - something Eric Milton will try to trim as the left-hander comes off the disabled list for his first start since June 5. Milton missed last year following elbow surgery and has been dealing with a lower back strain this month.

When healthy, Milton (2-0, 2.89) has been effective if not efficient. He averaged fewer than five innings in his four starts but allowed two or fewer earned runs in each of them.

Milton has not faced the Mariners since 2002, but his 9.41 ERA in nine career starts versus Seattle is his worst against any opponent.

He probably won't enjoy facing Ichiro Suzuki, who goes for his seventh straight multi-hit game. Suzuki once again leads the majors with 106 hits.

The Mariners (37-36) came into this series having won seven of nine, but they fell to 2-5 in NL parks. They've averaged 3.1 runs in those games.