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Mariners-Indians Preview

Aug 15, 2010 - 3:40 AM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

Seattle (45-71) at Cleveland (48-68), 1:05 p.m. EDT

Felix Hernandez was so excited that the Seattle Mariners scored for him in his last start that he made it stand up with one of the best performances of his career.

He'll try to end a three-start skid on the road Sunday when the Mariners look to finish a three-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians.

Hernandez (8-9, 2.71 ERA) halted a personal three-game overall slide Tuesday in a 2-0 victory over Oakland. He struck out a career-high 13 and yielded five hits in eight innings.

Seattle (46-71) had been shut out in his previous two outings, and had given him total of one run of support in his last four before scoring in the sixth inning Tuesday.

"I was like, 'Wow, we get a run.' I'm just kidding," Hernandez joked. "I was saying, 'Now you have to keep the lead.' That's what I do."

The right-hander is 0-3 with a 3.27 ERA in his last three road starts. He's 3-2 with a 3.71 ERA in seven career outings against Cleveland (48-69).

The Mariners won for the ninth time in their last 12 games at Progressive Field, 9-3 on Saturday. Seattle improved to 4-1 since interim manager Daren Brown replaced the fired Dan Wakamatsu.

Josh Bard hit his first career grand slam and finished with four hits. Bard fell a triple short of the cycle, lining out to left in the ninth inning.

"I want every hit, so I wanted that one for sure," Bard said. "If I got a triple, they'd probably have to put me on the disabled list."

Cleveland dropped to 3-11 at home since July 24 after starter Mitch Talbot failed to record an out in the fifth inning. Seattle scored five times in that frame to snap a 2-2 tie.

"Not a very good ballgame," manager Manny Acta said.

Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera went 2 for 4, and is batting .379 (11 for 29) in his last eight games. Cabrera has two hits in three straight games.

Justin Masterson (4-11, 5.47) will start for Cleveland. He's failed to last past the sixth inning in his last three outings, going 1-2 with a 7.63 ERA.

The right-hander gave up seven runs over five innings Tuesday in a 14-8 loss to Baltimore, falling to 2-5 with a 4.18 ERA in 11 outings at home.

Masterson is 2-0 with a 1.56 ERA in five career appearances against the Mariners, including two starts. Mariners second baseman Chone Figgins is 0 for 9 with four strikeouts against him.

Right fielder Ichiro Suzuki is 4 for 9 in this series. Suzuki, though, is hitting .263 in day games this year compared to .333 in natural light in his career.