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Mariners-Rangers Preview

Jun 8, 2010 - 5:23 AM By MIKE LIPKA STATS Writer

Seattle (22-34) at Texas (30-26), 8:05 p.m. EDT

The Seattle Mariners certainly didn't plan on sitting in last place in the AL West at this point, in part because they expected Felix Hernandez to frequently follow a gem from Cliff Lee with one of his own.

Hernandez has a chance to do that for a third straight outing Tuesday night as the visiting Mariners try for a second consecutive win over the Texas Rangers.

Lee opened the four-game series with a complete game in Monday night's 4-2 win, the third straight start the left-hander worked at least eight innings and allowed two or fewer earned runs.

Following each of the last two, Hernandez (3-4, 3.26 ERA) has given up one run in eight innings, striking out nine in Thursday's 4-1 victory over Minnesota to snap his seven-start winless streak.

"I just wanted to do my job. I feel like it's been a year since I win a game," Hernandez said. "(Thursday) was big and I hope I can do that every time."

The right-hander struggled with inconsistency through much of the first two months, but Seattle hopes he's regaining the form that made him the runner-up in last year's AL Cy Young voting.

The timing of Hernandez's resurgence may not be a coincidence. Last year, the hard-throwing Venezuelan hit his stride around this time, going 14-2 with a 2.10 ERA between June 1 and the end of the season.

Although Hernandez gave up five runs, eight hits and four walks in 4 1-3 innings of a 6-3 home loss to Texas on May 1, he has been sharp at Rangers Ballpark lately, going 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA in four starts there since the beginning of last year.

The game could be a pitchers duel if Texas' Colby Lewis performs as he did in two previous outings against the Mariners.

In his first major league start since 2007, Lewis gave up one run in seven innings of a 6-2 win over Seattle on April 9. Three weeks later, he outlasted Lee by pitching nine innings in the Rangers' 2-0, 12-inning road victory.

Lewis (4-4, 3.62) struck out 10 in three of his five April starts, going 3-0 with a 2.76 ERA, but hasn't been as sharp since. He has gone 1-4 with a 4.38 ERA in his last six outings, averaging 4.7 strikeouts.

The right-hander fanned seven but allowed four runs - all on three homers - in 6 1-3 innings of a 4-3 loss to the White Sox on Thursday.

He'll try to help Texas (30-27) avoid its first three-game home losing streak of the season. The Rangers ceded first place in the AL West to the Los Angeles Angels after Monday's defeat, their seventh in 11 games.

The Mariners (23-34) remain in the division cellar largely because they rank 27th in the majors with 207 runs. They're hoping a major lineup change helps after manager Don Wakamatsu dropped Chone Figgins from No. 2 in the order to the No. 9 spot Monday.

Figgins, who entered the game batting .220 after signing a four-year, $36 million contract in the offseason, wasn't happy about the move but went 3 for 4.

"There's nobody who can ever doubt what I do on the field," Figgins said. "I come to play every single day no matter what the situation."