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Hernandez takes mound as red-hot Mariners face Rangers

Aug 24, 2007 - 2:45 PM Seattle (71-53) at Texas (56-70) 8:35 pm EDT

ARLINGTON, Texas (Ticker) -- The Texas Rangers are quickly realizing they cannot beat up on the Seattle Mariners they way they did the Baltimore Orioles.

Felix Hernandez takes the hill as the Mariners continue their four-game series with the Rangers on Friday.

Seattle, which has won 18 of 25, leads the New York Yankees (71-56) by two games in the wild card race, and trails the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (74-53) by one game in the American League West.

Jeff Weaver threw six effective innings and Ichiro Suzuki hit a bases-clearing double in a six-run sixth inning as the Mariners took the opener, 9-4, on Thursday.

That loss came on the heals of a historic 30-run outburst in a 30-3 thrashing of Baltimore in the first game of Wednesday's double header for the Rangers. Texas set the American League mark for runs scored in a single game and recorded a franchise-best 29 hits.

However, Weaver shut them down and now Hernandez (9-6, 3.94 ERA), who is 3-0 in his last five starts, will try and do the same. In his last outing, Hernandez allowed five runs - four earned - and 10 hits in an 11-5 win over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.

Kevin Millwood (8-10, 5.39) takes the mound for Texas, which has lost four of six.

Millwood has been excellent his last four starts, allowing three runs or less in each. However, the righthander has just one win in that span. On Sunday, Millwood allowed one run and four hits in seven innings, but was upstaged by Johan Santana in a 1-0 loss to Minnesota.