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Jeff Weaver looks to bounce back from horrific first start

Apr 17, 2007 - 2:33 PM Minnesota (7-5) at Seattle (5-3) 10:05 pm EDT

SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Jeff Weaver hopes to put his disastrous season debut behind him when the Seattle Mariners host the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday.

Weaver (0-1, 31.50) made his first start for the Mariners on April 10 against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park - it was quite ugly. The righthander allowed seven runs, seven hits and two walks in just two innings of a 14-3 loss.

This will be the home debut for Weaver, who is 1-2 with a 6.55 ERA in four appearances at Safeco Field as a visiting pitcher.

Ramon Ortiz (2-0, 1.80) seeks his third win in as many starts for the Twins. In 15 innings this season, the righthander has allowed just three runs.

Justin Morneau has paced the Twins offense with four home runs and 10 RBI. Joe Mauer, last year's American League batting champion, is 13-for-40 (.325) this season with nine runs scored, but he's still looking for his first home run of the year.

After an unexpected early-season vacation, courtesy of having a four-game series in Cleveland wiped out by inclement weather, the Mariners appear to be shaking off the rust, having won two consecutive games.

However, in just eight games this season, the Mariners are batting .236 as a team and only Kenji Johjima (10-for-21) has a batting average higher than .290.