Erasmo Ramirez spent most of the 2013 season with the AAA Tacoma Rainiers. Saturday, he’ll go for his third consecutive win when the Mariners face the Orioles.
Former Mariner Adam Jones, a three-time All-Star, is batting .290 with 22 home runs. He went 2-for-4 with three RBIs in Friday’s 11-8 Baltimore win over Seattle. / Wiki Commons
GAME: Mariners (50-59, 3rd, AL West, -13.5 GB) at Orioles (61-49, 3rd, AL East, -4.5 GB). GAME #: 110. SERIES: 2nd of 3 games. MEETING: 5th (Orioles lead 3-1). WHEN: Saturday, 4:05 p.m., Camden Yards. STREAKS: Mariners L 4; Orioles W 2. TV: Root Sports. RADIO: ESPN 710, Mariners Radio Network
The Mariners and Orioles, who continue their three-game series Saturday at Camden Yards, entered ranked 1-2 in the major leagues in percent of runs scored via the home run. Seattle tallied 435 times, 205 via the homer, or 47.1 percent. Baltimore had scored 225 of its 510 via the homer, or 44.1 percent.
Nothing changed Friday night as the Mariners bashed four long balls and Baltimore three. Unfortunately for Seattle, a grand slam by Nate McLouth, the first of his career, and Chris Davis’ major league-league leading 40th, trumped Seattle’s effort in an 11-8 Oriole victory.
“It was the kind of a game where you felt like you had to outscore them,” McLouth said. “The ball was flying, and they’re a really good hitting team.”
The Mariners have hit six home runs and scored 21 times in the first four games of the six-game road trip, but have allowed eight homers and 32 runs, threatening to make this eastern junket a disaster unless Seattle can come up with some pitching in the final two games.
In the trip’s first three contests at Boston, Hisashi Iwakuma and Felix Hernandez combined to allow one earned run and no homers in 12.2 innings. Since Hernandez departed after the seventh inning Thursday, Charlie Furbush, Tom Wilhelmsen, Oliver Perez, Yoervis Medina, Aaron Harang and Brandon Maurer have combined to yield 18 runs on 16 hits with four homers.
Now comes Erasmo Ramirez, who will take the ball for Seattle Saturday. In three starts since his recall from AAA Tacoma, Ramirez allowed 14 earned runs on 21 hits with a homer surrendered in each start. Bats bailed him out in his last two, scoring 10 runs.
Ramirez, who has never thrown a pitch in Camden Yards, will try for his third victory in a row. He’ll face Scott Feldman, who’s had so-so success (5-5) during his career against the Mariners. A closer look:
SATURDAY’S PROBABLES
MARINERS: RHP Erasmo Ramirez (2-0, 7.71 ERA, 1.77 WHIP)
The 23-year-old Ramirez, a Nicaragua native in his second major league season and first with Seattle, will make his fourth start and first against the Orioles. Ramirez can hold a team down with his strikeouts, but he is prone to giving up big innings. The Orioles’ big bats will provide a good test for the rookie, who has given up a home run in all three of his starts.
ORIOLES: RHP Scott Feldman (2-2, 5.12 ERA, 1.16 WHIP)
The 30-year old Feldman, a Burlingame, CA., native in his ninth major league season and first with Baltimore, will make his sixth start 21st start and first against the Mariners. The Orioles acquired Feldman from the Chicago Cubs July 2 and he has gone 2-2, 5.12 in five starts, his two losses sandwiched around two wins. Feldman had his best outing May 6 against Texas when he did not allow an earned run in 7.0 innings in a 9-2 victory.
MARINERS STATS / NOTES
UPCOMING PROBABLES
Date | Day | Opp. | Probable Pitchers |
---|---|---|---|
8/3 | Sat | at Bal | RHP Erasmo Ramirez (2-0) vs. RHP Scott Feldman (2-2) |
8/4 | Sun | at Bal | LHP Joe Saunders (9-10) vs. LHP Wei-Yin Chen (6-3) |
8/5 | Mon | vs. Tor | RHP Hisashi Iwakuma (10-4) vs. RHP R.A. Dickey (8-11) |
YourThoughts