Mariners at Rangers
Kevin Millwood attempts to stifle the hot-hitting Texas Rangers for the second straight start when the Seattle Mariners open a 10-game road trip with a three-game series in Arlington. The veteran right-hander has won three straight starts and blanked the Rangers on three hits over six innings last Wednesday. Texas scored 34 runs while sweeping a three-game series from the Toronto Blue Jays and leads the American League West by 6 1/2 games.
The Rangers racked up 44 hits in the series against Toronto, including 10 homers and nine doubles. Texas has scored a major-league leading 276 runs while jumping out to a 30-18 start. Outfielder Josh Hamilton is batting .368 and leads the majors with 20 homers and 53 RBIs. The Mariners are in last place in the AL West after scoring just nine runs while suffering a four-game home sweep against the Los Angeles Angels. First baseman Justin Smoak had two homers and six RBIs but didn’t receive much offensive support from his teammates.
TV: 8:05 p.m. ET, ROOT (Seattle), Fox Sports Southwest (Texas)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Mariners RH Kevin Millwood (3-4, 3.72 ERA) vs. Rangers LH Matt Harrison (5-3, 4.72 ERA)
Millwood has allowed just one run and eight hits in 22 innings during his three-game winning streak. He had a 5.88 ERA in six starts prior to the stretch. Millwood is 6-5 with a 3.98 ERA in 17 starts against the Rangers.
Harrison defeated Seattle last Tuesday when he allowed one run and eight hits in seven innings. He is 7-1 with a 2.54 ERA in 14 career appearances (10 starts) against the Mariners. Prior to last week’s strong effort, Harrison had allowed 24 earned runs and 50 hits over his previous 26 2/3 innings (five starts).
WALK-OFFS
1. Texas won three of four at home against the Mariners in April but is just 4-3 overall against Seattle.
2. Mariners second baseman Dustin Ackley (15 at-bats), catcher Miguel Olivo (14) and outfielder Mike Carp (10) are all hitless against Harrison.
3. Rangers catcher Mike Napoli is 6-for-16 with four doubles and a homer against Millwood.