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Mariners hope to end slide in opener with Jays

Jul 19, 2011 - 2:55 PM

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(Sports Network) - The Seattle Mariners hope rookie All-Star pitcher Michael Pineda can get them out of their funk tonight in the opener of a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.

Pineda tossed a perfect inning of relief in the All-Star Game last Tuesday and entered the break on a losing note. In a 9-3 loss at the LA Angels of Anaheim on July 9, Pineda struggled through five innings, allowing seven runs and six hits with seven strikeouts and two walks. Two of those hits were homers.

The hard-throwing right-hander has lost four of his last six decisions and is 8-6 with a 3.03 earned run average in 18 starts this season. Pineda defeated Toronto at Safeco Field in a 3-2 victory on April 12, when he yielded two runs -- one earned -- in 7 1/3 innings.

In 10 road starts this season, Pineda is 4-4 with a 3.52 ERA.

Seattle will commence a nine-game road trip Tuesday against the Blue Jays, Red Sox and Yankees and has dropped nine in a row, including five straight as the visitor. The Mariners were swept in four games at Texas over the weekend and suffered a 3-1 loss in Sunday's series finale.

Mariners starter Blake Beaven sustained the loss and was reached for three runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings. Jack Wilson drove in the only run for Seattle with an RBI single in the eighth inning.

"It's tough to watch, it's tough to live through, but you have to do that," said Seattle manager Eric Wedge on the skid. "There are no excuses, there are no shortcuts, you've got to keep fighting to get a little bit better, each position player to a man, to head in the right direction."

The Mariners are 11 1/2 games off the lead in the AL West and are mired in a nine-game homerless streak.

Toronto lost the last two tests of a four-game series versus the New York Yankees over the weekend and was beaten, 7-2, in Sunday's finale. It had won four in a row before the current slide.

Carlos Villanueva allowed five runs and eight hits in six innings of work to absorb the loss. Travis Snyder led the offense with two hits and an RBI. Home run leader and Jays slugger Jose Bautista missed his third straight game with a sprained right ankle and is still day-to-day.

"Whether it's daytime, nighttime or early morning, his absence in the lineup is a hole to fill," Blue Jays skipper John Farrell said. "He's our leader. He's our most productive offensive player. ... That's a substantial loss when he's not in there day in and day out."

Bautista has hit 31 homers this season.

Brett Cecil gets the nod for the Jays on Tuesday and ended a three-game losing streak in a 7-1 win at Cleveland on July 10. Cecil allowed one run and seven hits in six innings to improve to 2-4 in seven starts this season while lowering his ERA to 5.66.

Cecil, a left-hander, is 0-3 in three home starts in 2011 and defeated the Mariners the only time he faced them last May 19 in the Emerald City.

Seattle won two of three matchups with Toronto from April 11-13 this season at Safeco Field.






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