The Mariners have never lost to the Phillies at Safeco with me in attendance. Let's look for that to continue.
PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES SEATTLE MARINERS
Rollins SS Ichiro RF
Lofton CF Winn LF
Abreu RF Ibanez DH
Burrell LF Sexson 1B
Thome DH Reed CF
Utley 2B Boone 2B
Bell 3B Hansen 3B
Lieberthal C Morse SS
Perez 1B Borders C
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Lieber (8-4, 4.61) Meche (5-4, 4.76)
Jon Lieber has already walked more hitters than he did in either of the last two years. He's also had a big home run problem (19 in 82 innings), but he's going up against a weak lineup that's missing one of its theoretical big bats, so that factor may not come into play. Lieber eats up right-handed hitters, and current Mariners are just 27-119 with two homers against him for their careers, so he's got some shutdown potential tonight. As for Meche, he really needs to strike out more hitters than he walks for the first time in five starts. The Phillies have a strong offense, led by four regulars (Utley, Abreu, Lofton, Burrell) who have a better OPS than our team leader (Sexson), but they've struggled on the road, so look for Safeco to keep the run scoring down. That can only be good.
LET'S GO MARINERS!