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Bedard, Saunders face off at Safeco Field

Jun 3, 2008 - 1:20 PM LA Angels (35-24) at Seattle (21-37) 10:10 pm EDT

SEATTLE (Ticker) - Erik Bedard arrived in the Pacific Northwest during the offseason as arguably the American League's best lefthander - a title that might belong to Joe Saunders this season.

Saunders eyes his AL-best ninth win on Tuesday when the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim continue their three-game series with the Seattle Mariners.

Tied with three other AL pitchers with eight wins, Saunders (8-2, 2.76 ERA) has emerged from possibly being left out of the rotation prior to the season to the AL's second-most difficult lefthanded starter to face, as he is allowing opponents to hit just .229 off him.

Even more in his favor is that he has wins in both of his starts against Seattle already this season. However, in order to collect No. 3, he will need to shake off his last outing in which he surrendered a season-high five runs over five innings in a 6-2 loss to Detroit on Wednesday.

Bedard (4-3, 4.08), who arrived in Seattle in February after one of the most-discussed trades of the offseason, has been one of the few bright spots for the AL's worst team. Even though he is allowing nearly a run more per game than he did in 2007, he is the only Seattle pitcher with a winning record to have started a game.

The lefthander was sharp in his last turn on Wednesday, yielding two hits and striking out eight over seven innings in a 1-0 win over Boston.