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Mariners eye series victory over Phillies

Aug 20, 2014 - 11:58 AM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Seattle Mariners eye a series victory on Wednesday afternoon as they conclude a three-game set with the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Mariners bounced back last night with a 5-2 victory after losing the opener of this set on Monday. They have split their last four games after winning five in a row, but remained tied with Detroit for the second wild card spot in the American League.

Hisashi Iwakuma shut down the Phillies last night over eight scoreless innings, striking out 11 and scattering four hits. He ran his scoreless streak to 17 2/3 innings after throwing 74 of his 96 pitches for strikes.

"He was outstanding, he commanded all his pitches. He was in and out, up and down and did a tremendous job for us," Seattle manager Lloyd McClendon said of Iwakuma.

Kyle Seager smacked a solo homer and Mike Zunino hit a two-run single among his two hits in the triumph.

Fernando Rodney recorded the final out to notch his 36th save of the season. The Phillies had already plated two runs and put runners on first and second in the ninth, but Rodney struck out the tying run in Cody Asche to end the game.

A.J. Burnett fanned nine, but surrendered five runs on six hits and four walks over 7 2/3 innings for the Phillies, who have dropped eight of their last 11 games.

"Battled right to the end," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said of Burnett.

Chase Utley scored on a wild pitch and Dominic Brown hit an RBI double in the ninth to get the Phillies on the board.

Still without a loss on his major league resume, James Paxton gets the call today for the Mariners.

The 25-year-old lefty did not get a decision in his first two starts following a shoulder injury, but found the win column on Friday in Detroit. He allowed one run on five hits and a walk over six innings.

"That's a fantastic lineup they have there," Paxton said of the Tigers. "I had some things go my way, that's for sure. It was really a fight tonight."

Paxton is 3-0 with a 2.20 earned run average in five starts this year and 6-0 in his career with a 1.88 ERA in nine outings.

Countering for the Phillies will be left-hander Cole Hamels, who is winless in his last three starts.

Hamels has followed up a loss to Washington on Aug. 3 with consecutive no- decisions, though Friday's outing versus the San Francisco Giants marked the first time in six starts he gave up more than one run. Hamels was charged with three runs over seven frames in a game his club won 5-3.

The 30-year-old is 6-6 on the year with a 2.44 ERA and lost his only other start against the Mariners, which came on June 19, 2011. Hamels, though, only allowed two runs over 6 1/3 frames as the Phillies were shut out 2-0.

The Mariners have won eight of 11 versus the Phillies dating back to 2003, when they swept the club in three games in their only previous trip to Philadelphia.