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Red Sox-Mariners Preview

Sep 13, 2010 - 1:26 AM By MIKE LIPKA STATS Editor

Boston (78-64) at Seattle (55-87), 10:10 p.m. EDT

There's likely nothing Jon Lester can do to prevent the Boston Red Sox from missing the playoffs for the first time since 2006, but that won't stop him from pursuing a rare victory against his hometown team.

The Washington state native typically hasn't pitched well in Seattle, a trend he'll hope to change Monday as he looks to hand the lowly Mariners a fifth consecutive defeat.

The Red Sox (79-64) began their West Coast trip by losing two of three to Oakland, and despite a 5-3 win Sunday they remain 7 1/2 games behind Tampa Bay in the wild card race.

Lester (16-8, 3.26 ERA) has done his best to help an unlikely push, winning five of his last six starts. He matched his career high in victories last Monday against the Rays, working six strong innings in a 12-5 win and striking out 10 for the third consecutive outing.

Outs haven't come as easily for the left-hander at Seattle, where he's 1-2 with a 5.28 ERA in five starts.

A native of nearby Puyallup, Wash., Lester retired the first 16 batters he faced at Safeco Field on July 24 and ended up with a career-high 13 strikeouts, but he also allowed all of Seattle's runs in a 5-1 loss.

"That's as good as stuff as we've seen all year," manager Terry Francona told the Red Sox's official website that night. "The outcome is a shame. He pitched better than the linescore will show, for sure."

He'll hope for a better result Monday against Seattle's woeful offense, which ranks last in the majors in runs, batting average and on-base percentage.

The Mariners (55-88) have totaled 10 runs during a four-game losing streak, and they were shut out for the 13th time in a 3-0 loss to the Angels on Sunday.

"It's the same old song," catcher Josh Bard told the Mariners' official website. "We go out there and continue to not take advantage of the scoring opportunities we get. We can't seem to get a hit when we need it.

"It's extremely disappointing that we can't get our pitchers some runs to work with."

They'll try to help Doug Fister (5-11, 3.84) win back-to-back starts for the first time since April 13 and 19 against Oakland and Baltimore.

The right-hander got some support Tuesday, beating the A's again by allowing two runs in five innings of a 7-5 victory.

Fister is 0-1 in two starts against Boston, which remains a dangerous offense even with Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis and Jacoby Ellsbury all out for the season. The Red Sox rank third in the majors in runs behind the Yankees and Rays.

Former Mariners third baseman Adrian Beltre has been one of Boston's most consistent hitters in 2010, the club leader in batting average (.326) and RBIs (96). He's batting .366 with four homers and eight RBIs in 11 September games.

Beltre, however, was 3 for 16 (.188) during a four-game series at Seattle from July 22-25, his first there since leaving as a free agent in the offseason. His batting average with Boston is 50 points above his high from five seasons with the Mariners.