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Ichiro leads Mariners against Halladay, Blue Jays

Jun 30, 2007 - 1:12 PM Toronto (39-40) at Seattle (44-33) 10:05 pm EDT

SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Ichiro Suzuki and the red-hot Seattle Mariners will get heat check when the face one of the best pitcher's in the American League on Saturday.

The Mariners, who have won five straight, will take their hacks against Roy Halladay (9-2, 4.25 ERA) in the middle game of a three-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Ichiro has been integral to Seattle's recent stellar play hitting .419 (13-for-31) in leading his team to wins in it of their last nine games.

Seattle won Friday's opener, 5-3, behind six strong innings from Jarrod Washburn and a pair of RBI from Jose Guillen and Ben Broussard. The Mariners will be seeking their longest winning streak since winning nine straight from May 27 - June 5, 2003.

Meanwhile Halladay, who has won four straight and five of his last six outings, will try and put an end to that streak. In his last start, the former Cy Young Award winner won despite allowing five runs and six hits in seven innings against Minnesota on Monday.

Halladay will be opposed by former teammate, Miguel Batista. Batista (7-6, 4.85) faces his former team since being traded to Arizona in 2005. The righthander is winless in his last two starts, and was a tough-luck loser on Sunday when he held Cincinnati to two runs and five hits in six innings.