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Mariners look to complete sweep of Twins

Aug 22, 2007 - 1:22 PM Seattle (71-52) at Minnesota (62-63) 1:10 pm EDT

MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) - The Seattle Mariners try to complete a three-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday.

In contention in both the American League wild card and West race, the Mariners have reeled off five straight wins to move a season-high 19 games over .500.

The Mariners lead the New York Yankees (70-56) by 2 1/2 games for the wild card. They are two games back of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (74-51) in the West race.

Seattle has outscored Minnesota by a lopsided 16-6 in winning the first two games of this series.

Raul Ibanez has been carrying the Mariners. The veteran outfielder is hitting .431 with nine homers and 20 RBI in August.

Miguel Batista (13-8, 4.14), who already has set a career high in wins, takes the mound for the Mariners. The righthander has been outstanding since the All-Star break, going 5-1 with a 3.16 ERA.

Batista is 2-0 with a 1.71 ERA lifetime against the Twins.

Minnesota, which has lost eight of its last 12 games, sends Carlos Silva (9-12, 4.17 ERA) to the mound. Despite going 0-1 in his last three starts, the righthander has pitched well during that span, allowing just three runs in 21 innings.

Silva is 4-1 with a 2.66 ERA in his career against Seattle, including a win on April 18. In that outing, he gave up three runs and eight hits in 6 1/3 innings.