Final
King Felix, Shields go at it in Mariners-Rays opener
Jun 2, 2011 - 2:39 PMVideo
Seattle and Tampa Bay's offense may find it a frustrating day at the plate seeing as the American League's co-strikeout leaders James Shields and Felix Hernandez square off Thursday night.
Both Shields and Hernandez come into this game with 81 strikeouts, four more than the Angels' Jered Weaver for the league lead.
Shields has 54 strikeouts over his last six starts, spanning 45 1/3 innings, for the Rays and is 5-3 with a 2.15 earned run average in 11 starts this season.
After posting his second shutout of the season on May 22 in Florida, striking out a franchise record-tying 13 batters, the right-handed Shields took a loss to Cleveland on Saturday. He gave up three runs on seven hits with eight punchouts over seven innings of work.
"I made a few mistakes there in the first inning and that ended up costing us at the end of the game," Shields told Tampa Bay's website. "My job was to go deep in the game, and I did my job. But, unfortunately, we lost."
The 29-year-old is undefeated in five road starts this season, going 4-0 with a 1.88 ERA, and is 3-3 with a 2.80 ERA in nine career starts versus the Mariners.
Hernandez, meanwhile, fanned 13 batters in a win over the Padres on May 22, but then matched a season low with just four K's in a no-decision against the Yankees on Saturday. The right-hander threw a career high-tying 128 pitches in the outing, giving up four runs on six hits and five walks over seven innings. He also yielded two homers in a game for the first time since May 7 of last year.
Hernandez is 5-4 with a 3.19 ERA in 12 starts this year and the 25-year-old has made seven career starts against the Rays. He is 2-1 against them with a 2.42 ERA.
Seattle, which sits 1 1/2 games behind Texas for first place in the AL West, will try to rebound tonight after dropping a 2-1 decision to Baltimore on Wednesday. Jamey Wright took the loss after serving up Adam Jones' go-ahead solo homer in the eighth inning on a 2-1 fastball over the plate.
"It just flattened out, right into his barrel, bad pitch, bad location, especially for a guy that's all he's trying to do is hit the ball out of the park," Wright said.
Ichiro Suzuki and Jack Wilson both had two hits for the Mariners, who lost for just the second time in their last seven games.
The Rays, meanwhile, come to town to start an 11-game road trip after splitting a six-game stay at home. They failed to secure a winning homestand after losing Wednesday's 3-0 contest to the Rangers.
David Price was outdueled by Texas' Colby Lewis, allowing three runs on five hits over eight innings.
"David was very good today. He deserved a better fate," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "David had outstanding stuff. I thought David was great. He is going to win many, many ball games."
Ben Zobrist had two of the five hits for the Rays, while Johnny Damon went 1- for-4 and has reached base safely in 26 straight games.
B.J. Upton, though, went 0-for-3 and has just one hit in his last 19 at-bats. He may have a tough time breaking out tonight as he is just 1-for-18 in his career versus Hernandez with six strikeouts.
The Rays won seven of nine versus the Mariners a season ago, including a three-game sweep in the lone meeting at Safeco Field.
- TAMPA BAY: 2
SEATTLE: 8
Final
Jun 3 1:00 AM - Evan Longoria grounded out short to first. None on with one out and Johnny Damon due up.
Rays 2, Mariners 8 Top 8, 1 OutJun 3 12:34 AM - Felipe Lopez single to center scored Evan Longoria with two outs. On the play, Johnny Damon advances to third. Runners on first and third and Sam Fuld due up.
Rays 1, Mariners 8 Top 6, 2 OutsJun 3 12:02 AM - Justin Smoak two-out, solo Home Run (9) to right. Jack Cust due up.
Rays 0, Mariners 8 Bot 4, 2 OutsJun 2 11:25 PM - Carlos Peguero lead off Home Run 2 (4) to center. Ichiro Suzuki due up.
Rays 0, Mariners 7 Bot 4, 0 OutsJun 2 11:22 PM - Adam Kennedy double to right scored Jack Cust with one out. On the play, Franklin Gutierrez advances to third. Runners on second and third and Miguel Olivo due up.
Rays 0, Mariners 6 Bot 3, 1 OutJun 2 11:05 PM - Carlos Peguero one-out, three-run Home Run (3) to right center scored Adam Kennedy and Chone Figgins. Ichiro Suzuki due up.
Rays 0, Mariners 5 Bot 2, 1 OutJun 2 10:46 PM - Chone Figgins single to right scored Franklin Gutierrez with one out. On the play, Adam Kennedy advances to second. Runners on first and second and Carlos Peguero due up.
Rays 0, Mariners 2 Bot 2, 1 OutJun 2 10:44 PM - Jack Cust lead-off Home Run (2) to right center. Franklin Gutierrez due up.
Rays 0, Mariners 1 Bot 2, 0 OutsJun 2 10:32 PM - TAMPA BAY: 0
SEATTLE: 0
Top 1, 0 Outs
Jun 2 10:10 PM
Related News
- Mariners Moose Tracks, 12/26/23: Kyle Keller, J.T. Realmuto, and Chad Smith Dec 26
- Mariners Moose Tracks, 12/25/23: Mitch Garver, Yuki Matsui, and Joe Kelly Dec 25
- Mariners to sign Mitch Garver to 2-year, $24M contract Dec 24
- Mariners Moose Tracks, 12/23/23: Bryce Miller, Shelby Miller, and Ryan Minor Dec 23
- ZiPS, Holidays & Mariner Malaise - Meet at the Mitt Podcast Dec 22
- Mariners Moose Tracks, 12/22/23: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Rule Changes, and More RSN Fallout Dec 22
- Mariners Moose Tracks, 12/21/23: Trevor Gott, Eric Haase, and Adrian Houser Dec 21
- Mariners Moose Tracks, 12/20/23: Andrew McCutchen, Yuki Matsui, and TJ Hopkins Dec 20
- On Losing Tyler Glasnow Dec 20
- What can we learn from Tyler Glasnow’s contract extension with the Dodgers? Dec 19
- Mariners Moose Tracks, 12/19/23: Tom Murphy, Martin Perez, and Matt Carpenter Dec 19
- Mariners Moose Tracks, 12/18/23: Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Roenis Elias Dec 18