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O's Matusz set for season debut in finale with Mariners

Jun 1, 2011 - 3:14 PM (Sports Network) - Baltimore Orioles starter Brian Matusz is set to make his 2011 debut this afternoon in the finale of a three-game series against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field.

Matusz has been sidelined since the spring with a left intercostal muscle strain and got his first full taste of major league action in 2010, when he went 10-12 with a 4.30 earned run average in 32 starts. The young lefty has never faced Seattle in his career.

Baltimore could use a fresh face in the finale of a six-game road trip that has produced no wins thus far. After losing all three games in Oakland to kick off the trek, the Orioles have dropped the first two tests with Seattle, including Wednesday's 3-2 loss in which the Mariners plated three runs on a Justin Smoak homer in the bottom of the eighth to take the lead for good.

Jeremy Guthrie went the distance in a losing effort and his shutout bid was ruined by Smoak. He lasted eight innings and allowed five hits with nine strikeouts and one walk.

"I'm not going to sit around that 'woe is me' and 'pity world' that everybody lives in looking for a sympathetic ear, nobody cares," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said of his team's struggles. "Play better."

Matt Wieters homered and Adam Jones recorded two hits for the Orioles, whose five-game skid comes on the heels of a five-game winning streak.

Seattle is aiming for a three-game sweep of this set and has won 11 of its previous 13 games. Smoak was the hero last night and Brendan Ryan collected two hits for the Mariners, who got 6 1/3 innings of two-run ball out of starter Erik Bedard in the no-decision.

"(Guthrie) threw well," Smoak said. "He was throwing his sinker to lefties and throwing pretty hard and had command of all his pitches. It was one of those we just kept battling and scratching, and finally, with (Ichiro) getting a hit and Brendan getting a hit, I came up there and put a good swing on one."

Chris Ray earned the win in relief with 1 2/3 scoreless innings and Brandon League nailed down his 15th save with two K's in the ninth.

Rookie Michael Pineda draws the start for the M's today and he's 6-2 with a 2.42 earned run average in 10 starts. He is 2-0 in his last four trips to the rubber and did not record a decision in Friday's 4-3 win over the New York Yankees in which he allowed three runs in five innings.

The right-hander faced Baltimore in a 7-6 loss on May 10 at Camden Yards and threw six innings of three-run ball in the no-decision. Pineda has pitched well at home so far this season as evidenced by his 3-1 mark in five starts at Safeco Field.

Seattle is 4-1 on a 10-game homestand that concludes with four games versus the Tampa Bay Rays.

Baltimore swept a three-game series from the Mariners earlier in the year and has won six of the last 10 meetings. The O's, though, have dropped eight of 10 trips to the Emerald City.