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Rays-Mariners Preview

May 5, 2010 - 7:10 AM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Tampa Bay (19-7) at Seattle (11-15), 10:10 p.m. EDT

Cliff Lee's first game with the Seattle Mariners couldn't have gone much better, except for the result.

After falling short of a win last time out, the left-hander will try to help his team avoid a season-high fifth straight defeat Wednesday night by winning his fifth consecutive start over the Tampa Bay Rays.

After missing most of the season's first month with a lower abdominal injury, Lee (0-0, 0.00 ERA) made his long-awaited debut Friday night at home against Texas. The 2008 AL Cy Young Award winner lived up to billing by scattering three hits and striking out eight over seven innings, but the Mariners fell 2-0 in 12 innings.

"Lee was probably as good as you can ask," manager Don Wakamatsu said. "I mean, he was near perfect."

In his next start, the left-hander draws a difficult task in trying to shut down the best team in the majors. With a 5-2 win in Tuesday night's series opener, the Rays improved to 19-7 - the best start in the majors since the 2005 Chicago White Sox opened 24-7.

Tampa Bay's start is impressive given its 10-1 start on the road. Evan Longoria led the way by belting his fourth homer in six games and went 3 for 4 to extend his hitting streak to 10 games.

The Rays third baseman is 19 for 39 (.487) during that streak and is third in the AL with a .364 average.

Wakamatsu, meanwhile, had to hold an afternoon meeting to stress better fundamentals from his hitters before Tuesday's loss. The Mariners (11-15) have batted .215 during a 2-8 stretch and scored six total runs during their four-game losing streak.

That's not the best way to head into a matchup with Tampa Bay right-hander Matt Garza, who has helped the Rays post an AL-best 2.97 ERA - just ahead of Seattle's 3.28.

After suffering his first loss, Garza (4-1, 2.06) bounced back Thursday by scattering five hits and striking out a season high-tying nine over six innings in an 11-1 win over Kansas City.

"Anytime they give me runs early, it's a huge help, but I don't like going out there saying, 'I got six runs to work with,'" Garza told the team's website. "It's always attack and always stay attacking."

It's the Mariners who have been the aggressor in most of their four matchups with the right-hander. Garza, though, hasn't faced Seattle since giving up five runs and 10 hits in 5 2-3 innings of an 8-7 comeback win on Aug. 9, 2008.

In the two meetings before that, he didn't make it out of the third inning, but did earn a victory in Seattle in 2007 pitching for Minnesota.

It is uncertain if Milton Bradley will be in the lineup for the Mariners. Wakamatsu lifted the temperamental outfielder after he went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts batting cleanup for the first time since April 9, and teammates said Bradley was "furious" over being taken out.

He had hit safely in his previous eight games but is still batting just .214 and has 24 strikeouts in 70 at-bats.

Lee, meanwhile, is 6-2 with a 2.32 ERA in 10 lifetime starts against the Rays, whom he hasn't faced since August 2008. He's posted a 1.80 ERA during his win streak over Tampa Bay.

The Mariners last dropped five in a row from Sept. 5-10, all on the road. They haven't lost five straight at home since a seven-game slide July 19-Aug. 2, 2008.