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Seattle Mariners

Mariners Pregame: M’s to face latest ‘it’ prospect, lineups and starters

Boston Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers sits in the dugout during the second inning against the Seattle Mariners on July 24, 2017, in Seattle. He is slated to make his MLB debut against the M’s on Tuesday. (Ted S. Warren / Associated Press)
By Dave Nichols daven@spokesman.com(509) 459-5441

Game 102: Seattle Mariners (50-51) vs. Boston Red Sox (55-46) at 7:10 p.m. in the second of a three-game series at Safeco Field.

On Monday, James Paxton was dominant over seven innings and the Mariners topped the Red Sox 4-0, with Kyle Seager smacking his 14th home run of the season.

Today, Boston unveils its top prospect, Rafael Devers. Devers, who will start at third base and hit ninth, was ranked the fourth overall top MLB prospect by MLB.com in their recent 2017 Prospect Watch midseason Top 100.

M’s starter Felix Hernandez is coming off one of his best starts of the season in a 4-1 loss to the Yankees last Thursday. Hernandez struck out nine over seven innings but was victimized by lack of offense and a rare hiccup by the bullpen.

With a win today, Hernandez would become the 21st pitcher in MLB history with at least 160 wins, 2,000 innings pitched, 2,000 strikeouts and an ERA under 3.20.

Lineups and starters

Courtesy @MarinersPR
Courtesy @MarinersPR

Starters: RHP Felix Hernandez (5-4, 3.88) vs. LHP Drew Pomeranz (10-4, 3.51)

Mariners Notes

  • Kyle Seager has hit seven home runs in his last 25 games, dating back to June 23. That ranks tied for third in the American League in home runs during that span.
  • Over the club’s last 56 games, the Mariners bullpen has posted a 2.70 ERA (56 earned runs over 186 1/3 innings), the best in the Majors during that span. Seattle’s bullpen ranks ahead of Boston (2.76) and the Dodgers (2.83) during that span.
  • Nelson Cruz leads the A.L. in RBIs with 75 while Robinson Canó ranks tied for seventh with 66 RBI. Seattle is one of two American League teams and seven MLB teams to have multiple players with 65-plus RBIs each.
  • Seattle is 47-16 when scoring four runs or more, but 3-35 when scoring three or fewer runs. The M’s have lost 28 consecutive games when scoring three or fewer.
  • Tony Zych (8 1/3) and Emilio Pagan (7) have active scoreless streaks of seven-plus innings in relief.

This Day in Mariners History

In 2000, Jay Buhner launched two home runs, career Nos. 299 and 300, against Oakland. Number 300 came in the eighth inning off Jason Isringhausen.

In 2014, Felix Hernandez set an American League record and tied a Major League record with Tom Seaver (1971) with 13 consecutive starts allowing two or less runs in at least seven innings. The Mariners lost 2-1 in 10 innings against the Orioles.