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Tigers-Mariners Preview

Apr 18, 2010 - 6:04 AM By KATE HEDLIN STATS Writer

Detroit (6-4) at Seattle (5-6), 4:10 p.m. EDT

After a rough start to the season on the road, the Seattle Mariners have bounced back with a solid homestand.

The Mariners go for their fifth straight win Sunday when they try to complete a three-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers for the first time in more than six years.

Seattle (6-6) opened the season losing road series to Oakland and Texas, but returned home this week and took two of three from the Athletics before winning the first two games of this series with Detroit (6-5).

The Mariners recorded a 4-2 victory on Saturday as Ichiro Suzuki fell a home run shy of the cycle, and Franklin Gutierrez drove in two runs. Ryan Rowland-Smith pitched six effective innings before the bullpen closed the win with three scoreless innings.

"These guys are playing hard right now, whether it's taking the walk or pressurizing the defense," manager Don Wakamatsu said.

Seattle's pitching has been key to the turnaround since returning to Safeco Field, posting a 2.20 ERA during the homestand compared to a 4.80 ERA during its road trip. The bullpen has been particularly effective with a 0.79 ERA over the last five games after compiling a 4.70 ERA in the first seven.

The Mariners, who haven't won five straight since a six-game streak April 9-15, 2009, will try Sunday to record their first series sweep of the Tigers since July 2003.

To salvage the finale, Detroit will have to ignite its offense after going 3 for 16 with runners in scoring position the last two games. The Tigers have scored eight runs during a three-game losing streak after scoring 20 in the previous three contests.

Brandon Inge is 0 for 6 in the series, dropping his average 53 points to .300. Miguel Cabrera is also struggling, hitting .158 over his last five games, including 1 for 8 in this series, after batting .522 over the first six contests.

They'll hope to fare better against Ian Snell (0-1, 5.00 ERA), who will take the mound for the Mariners.

Snell is trying to bounce back after pitching only three innings last Sunday against the Rangers, allowing five runs and eight hits in a 9-2 loss.

"It was a terrible start and I wish I could take it back," said Snell. "The ball didn't feel right coming out. Velocity was down, I don't know what's going on."

Snell's start was pushed back a day after he returned home following the death of a relative. He is 1-2 with a 3.57 ERA against the Tigers, failing to make it through the sixth in two of those starts.

Detroit will hand the ball to Max Scherzer (0-1, 1.64), who pitched five innings against Kansas City on Monday, giving up five runs - three earned - and nine hits in a 10-5 loss.

In the right-hander's previous start, he gave up one hit in six scoreless innings, but the Tigers failed to provide him with any run support and went on to lose to the Royals 3-2 in 11 innings.

Scherzer, who was 9-15 the previous two seasons with Arizona, has never faced the Mariners.