Mariners at Orioles
Manny Machado is giving the Seattle Mariners fits while keeping the Baltimore Orioles in the mix for the American League's second wild-card berth. The 25-year-old Machado looks to send the Orioles to their seventh straight win and a three-game sweep of the visiting Mariners on Wednesday afternoon when the clubs wrap up their set at Camden Yards.
Machado followed up his three-hit performance in the opener with a pair of solo homers in Tuesday's 4-0 triumph, improving to 9-for-22 with seven RBIs versus Seattle this season. Welington Castillo added a solo shot Tuesday and is 4-for-7 with three RBIs in the series for Baltimore, which has outscored the opposition 44-17 during its winning streak and resides 1 1/2 games in back of Minnesota for the final wild-card slot. The Mariners find themselves three games behind the Twins after being outscored 27-10 during their four-game losing skid. Kyle Seager mustered the lone hit off Dylan Bundy with a bunt single on Tuesday and has two hits in the series heading into Wednesday's tilt versus starter Ubaldo Jimenez, against whom he is 2-for-11 in his career.
TV: 3:05 p.m. ET, ROOT Northwest (Seattle), MASN (Baltimore)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Mariners LH Ariel Miranda (8-6, 4.62 ERA) vs. Orioles RH Ubaldo Jimenez (5-9, 6.57)
Miranda will get his first look at the team that shuffled him to Seattle at last year's trade deadline. The 28-year-old Cuban pitched well in his last outing on Friday, as he scattered two hits over 4 2/3 scoreless innings before exiting after 99 pitches with a no-decision. The outing was a positive one for Miranda, who owned a 1-2 mark with 35 runs allowed in his previous eight outings.
Jimenez has dropped back-to-back outings in horrific fashion, as he yielded six runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings on Aug. 16 in a 7-6 setback at Seattle before surrendering three homers in five frames six days later in a 6-4 loss versus Oakland. "You'd like to say take the first inning away, but you can't take those away," manager Buck Showalter said of the 33-year-old Dominican permitting two homers in the first against the Athletics. Jimenez has kept Nelson Cruz (2-for-19) under wraps, although Robinson Cano (10-for-20, two homers) has had his number.
WALK-OFFS
1. Baltimore 2B Jonathan Schoop, who launched a solo shot on Tuesday, boasts three homers in his last eight games and has hit safely in nine of his last 10.
2. Cano is 0-for-7 in the series and 1-for-12 in his last five contests overall.
3. Orioles CF Adam Jones has five runs scored during his six-game hitting streak.