• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Mariners target win in finale at Baltimore

May 12, 2011 - 2:53 PM (Sports Network) - After an uncharacteristically wild outing from their ace, the Seattle Mariners will try to avoid a fifth straight setback and salvage the finale of their three-game series with the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards.

Seattle lost the opener in 13 innings on Tuesday and was hoping to rebound behind reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Felix Hernandez on Wednesday. However, he was tagged for four runs on seven hits and three walks over five innings of a 4-2 setback.

Ichiro Suzuki and Chone Figgins each had two hits for the Mariners, who have lost four straight. Michael Saunders blasted his second home run of the season in the loss.

Two former Mariners did the damage for the Orioles on Wednesday. Adam Jones matched a career-high with four hits, one a triple, and drove in two runs, while Chris Tillman gave up only one run over six innings for the win. Both Jones and Tillman were part of the package the Mariners dealt to the Orioles for Erik Bedard in February of 2008.

"[Tillman] did a good job keeping us off-balance ... but he left a few pitches up that we didn't do anything with," Mariners manager Eric Wedge said.

Jones is 7-for-10 with five RBI in this series.

"He's certainly been on top of his game lately," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said of Jones. "He's letting the game come to him and trusting in his abilities more."

Baltimore, which lost four in a row and six of seven coming into this series, was without Nick Markakis, who was kept away from the team due to flu-like virus.

Seattle won six of nine versus Baltimore last year, including a three-game sweep of the first series played between the teams. The O's will try to reverse the tables tonight with their first sweep of the Mariners since taking all four games of a set at Camden Yards on April 4-7, 2008.

Given the task is rookie Zach Britton, who will try to shake off just his second big league loss this evening in his first ever start versus the Mariners.

The 23-year-old had won three consecutive starts before taking the loss versus the Rays on Friday. The 5 1/3-inning outing was the shortest of Britton's career as he gave up three runs on four hits in a 6-2 setback.

"His command wasn't what it's been," Showalter said of his starter.

The left-hander is 5-2 with a 2.93 earned run average in seven starts and 3-1 with a 2.52 ERA in four at home.

Seattle starter Jason Vargas takes aim at a third straight winning start this evening.

Vargas ended a personal 13-game winless stretch (0-9) with a victory on April 29, then made it two in a row on Thursday versus Texas. The 28-year-old pitched a season-best 7 2/3 innings and allowed a run on six hits.

Vargas, who will be pitching on an extra day of rest, is 2-2 with a 4.68 ERA in seven starts this year, while the lefty is 1-1 with a 2.35 ERA in four against Baltimore.