If the Mariners are a decent team, this would be a pretty good time to prove it.
SEATTLE MARINERS FLORIDA MARLINS
Ichiro RF Castillo 2B
Winn CF Encarnacion RF
Beltre 3B Delgado 1B
Sexson 1B Cabrera LF
Ibanez LF Lo Duca C
Boone 2B Lowell 3B
Morse SS Pierre CF
Borders C Gonzalez SS
Meche P Willis P
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Meche (5-3, 4.57) Willis (9-2, 1.85)
Gil Meche didn't allow a run in 6.2 innings against Toronto last week. Damned if he doesn't need to do that again. Willis has been nothing short of phenomenal this year, missing some bats, limiting walks and homers, and generally keeping guys off the basepaths. When nobody reaches, nobody scores, and that's pretty much the story behind his 1.85 ERA through 11 starts. The good news for the Mariners is that Willis has some negative indicators - he has a .275 BABIP that should come up a bit, given that Florida doesn't have a great team defense, and his home runs will catch up with his fly balls (although he has been a groundball pitcher). It's not much, but it's something, and when you're going up against a pitcher of Willis' caliber, all you can do is hope.
LET'S GO MARINERS!