The Mariners are half a game worse at home than they are on the road. A win tonight evens that up.
TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS SEATTLE MARINERS
Crawford LF Ichiro RF
Lugo SS Winn LF
Huff RF Beltre 3B
Phelps DH Sexson 1B
Cantu 3B Ibanez DH
Lee 1B Boone 2B
Green 2B Reed CF
Hall C Bloomquist SS
Sanchez CF Rivera C
---------- ----------
Kazmir (2-4, 3.82) Pineiro (2-3, 6.66)
You know the story: inconsistent southpaw shuts down the Mariners, who get another bad line from their starter. Pineiro got bombed last week in Tampa, allowing seven runs in 4.2 innings of work, and he's only had one start so far in which he's allowed as many or fewer baserunners than he had innings pitched. Meanwhile, Kazmir is a young stud left-hander who misses bats and misses zones, meaning you could see Mariner hitters striking out on a lot of ball fours tonight. The team as a whole is batting a feeble .248/.303/.367 against power pitchers, so when you throw in the fact that Kazmir's a southpaw, you get a recipe for all kinds of disaster.
LET'S GO MARINERS!