A chance to...I dunno, get back into second place before April's over? Yeah, that'll do.
SEATTLE MARINERS OAKLAND ATHLETICS
Ichiro RF Kotsay CF
Reed CF Kendall C
Beltre 3B Chavez 3B
Sexson 1B Hatteberg 1B
Boone 2B Durazo DH
Ibanez DH Ellis 2B
Winn LF Swisher RF
Olivo C Scutaro SS
Valdez SS Thomas LF
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Sele (1-2, 5.56) Haren (1-2, 4.56)
For Sele, this is a good situation - he's in a big park, pitching against a team who's hit .236/.305/.352 vs. righties so far this year. All the pitching staff needs to do is keep Eric Chavez and Erubiel Durazo immersed in their respective slumps over the weekend, and they shouldn't find themselves having too pitch from behind very often. For the Mariner hitters, it's adjustment time, as Danny Haren is new to everyone but Adrian Beltre. His repertoire isn't as tricky as his delivery, but he's got a reverse platoon split that should make things a little easier on the core of the lineup. Even more, his command comes and goes. As long as the guys swing at strikes, they could put up some crooked numbers tonight.
LET'S GO MARINERS!