GAME: White Sox (7-6, 3rd, AL Central, – 1.5 GB) at Mariners (7-8, 2nd AL West, – 5.0 GB). GAME #: 16. SERIES: 2nd of 3 games. MEETING (2012): 2nd (White Sox lead 1-0). WHEN: Saturday, 1:05 p.m., Safeco Field. PROBABLE PITCHERS: RHP Philip Humber (Chicago, 0-0, 1.69) vs. RHP Blake Beavan (Seattle, 1-1, 2.70). STREAKS: Mariners L 2; White Sox W 1. TV: ROOT Sports, MLB TV. RADIO: KIRO 710 (Seattle), Mariners Radio Network.
The Mariners, who went 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position in their 7-3 loss to the Chicago Friday night, will try to avoid their first three-game losing streak of the season Saturday when they play the White Sox in a 1:05 p.m. matinee Saturday.
Blake Beavan (1-1, 2.70) will be tasked with silencing the Chicago bats, a job at which Hector Noesi (1.1 IP) failed miserably Friday when he allowed six earned runs to the 12 batters he faced.
The Mariners will conclude their 10-day, nine-game home stand Sunday in the last of three against the White Sox, then head out on a road trip that will take them through Detroit, Toronto and Tampa. A closer look at Saturday’s probables:
MARINERS: RHP Blake Beavan (1-1, 2.70 ERA, 0.97 WHIP)
The 23-year-old Beavan, in his second major league season and second with the Mariners, will be making his third start of the season and his first against the White Sox.
A native of Irving, TX., the 6-7, 240-pound Beavan was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the first round (17th pick) of the 2007 amateur draft.
After pitching in the minor leagues from 2008-11, Beavan made his major league debut July 3 against the San Diego Padres. He worked 7 IP, allowed three hits, two walks and one earned run in a 3-1 Seattle victory at Safeco Field.
Beavan became a Mariner July 9, 2010, when the Rangers traded him, along with Matthew Lawson (minors), Josh Lueke and Justin Smoak to Seattle for Cliff Lee, Mark Lowe and cash.
Beavan, who had 15 starts for the Mariners in 2011, has Field has a career record of 5-7, 4.09 ERA and 1.239 WHIP.
- LAST START: April 15 vs. Oakland, allowed three earned runs on six hits over 7 innings, picking up the win in a 5-3 Seattle victory at Safeco Field; faced 28 batters, throwing 98 pitches, 67 for strikes; allowed one home run, a three-run blast by Eric Sogard, Oakland’s No. 9 hitter.
- LAST VS. WHITE SOX: Beavan, who didn’t make his major league debut until last July, has never gone against the White Sox.
- AT SAFECO FIELD: 10 starts; 5-4 record with a 4.71 ERA; has allowed 34 runs, all earned, and 12 home runs.
- LOVES/HATES TO FACE: Beavan has faced only one White Sox player, Kosuke Fukudome, who is 3-for-3.
- CURRENT WHITE SOX VS. BEAVAN: 3-for-3, 1.000 BA, 2 2Bs, 1 RBI.
Beavan / 2012
- April 12 (L, 0-1): Worked 6.1 innings and allowed one earned run, but couldnt overcome the start by Texas Neftali Feliz, who had eight shutout innings.
- April 15 (W, 1-1): Outdueled Graham Godfrey in a 5-3 win over the Oakland Athletics; three earned runs on six hits over 7innings; seven ground-ball outs and 16 fly-ball outs.
WHITE SOX: RHP Philip Humber (0-0, 1.69 ERA, 1.69 WHIP)
The 29-year-old Humber, in his seventh major league season and second with the White Sox, will be making his second start of the season and his first against the Mariners.
A native of Nacogdoches, TX., the 6-3, 210-pound Humber was selected by the New York Yankees in the 29th round of the 2001 amateur draft. He did not sign.
The New York Mets selected him in the first round (1st pick) of the 2004 amateur draft.
After pitching with four teams in the Mets system, Humber made his major league debut Sept. 24, 2006 in a 5-1 loss to the Washington Nationals (one inning, no runs).
Humber pitched briefly for the Mets in 2006-07 between minor league assignments, and was traded Feb. 2, 2008 with Deolis Guerra (minors), Carlos Gomez and Kevin Mulvey to the Minnesota Twins for Johan Santana.
Humber spent two seasons with the Twins, primarily in relief, before Minnesota granted him free agency. Humber pitched mainly in relief for the Royals in 2010, was waived, picked up by the Oakland As, waived again, then picked up by the White Sox. Became a full-time starter in 2011, going 9-9, 3.75 ERA win 28 appearances, including 26 starts.
Humber’s career record is 11-10, 4.06 ERA.
- LAST START: April 16 vs. Baltimore, took a no-decision in a 10-4 Orioles victory; allowed one earned run in six hits over 5.1 innings with seven strikeouts and three walks; threw 115 pitches, 69 for strikes.
- LAST VS. MARINERS: June 7 was the winning pitcher in a 5-1 White Sox victory at U.S. Cellular Field, out-dueling Felix Hernandez; allowed one run on five hits over 7.2 innings, striking out five and walking three.
- CAREER VS. MARINERS: Three games with two starts; 1-0 record with a 1.72 ERA covering 15.2 innings; three earned runs in those appearances, striking out 10 and walking six.
- AT SAFECO FIELD: One start in which he did not receive a decision; allowed two runs on three hits over seven innings.
- LOVES TO FACE: Ichiro (0-for-6, .000 BA), Michael Saunders (0-for-3, .000 BA), Miguel Olivo (1-for-7, .143 BA, 2 Ks).
- HATES TO FACE: Brendan Ryan (1-for-3, .333 BA), Chone Figgins (1-for-4, .250 BA).
- CURRENT MARINERS VS. HUMBER: 8-for-40, .200 BA, 5 RBIs, 5 Ks.
LAST GAME
White Sox 7, Mariners 3
AT SEATTLE (April 20): Adam Dunn, who hit just 11 homers and batted .159 in 2011, banged two homers, doubled and drove in five runs, powering the Chicago White Sox past the Mariners. Dunn connected for a three-run homer off Hector Noesi (1-2) in the second inning to make it 6-0. He hit his third home run of the season in the eighth. It marked the first time Dunn had homered against Seattle in 12 career games.
White Sox starter Chris Sale (2-1) struck out 11 in 6.1 innings. He gave up three runs and seven hits.
“They say pitching wins ballgames, but, today, that wasn’t the case the way they were swinging the bats,” Sale said.
Noesi lasted just 1.1 innings. He gave up six hits and six runs, shooting his ERA to 9.49 from 5.73. Erasmo Ramirez pitched one-hit ball for 3.2 innings. Noesi threw 38 pitches in the first, including an 11-pitch walk to A.J. Pierzynski.
Alejandro De Aza singled, Brent Morel walked and Dunn had an RBI double. Alex Rios ‘ sacrifice fly made it 2-0.
“He wasn’t able to locate his fastball, and his secondary stuff never really came into play,” Seattle manager Eric Wedge said. “Just didn’t have it today.”
Jesus Montero hit his second home run of the season to center field in the sixth and Ichiro Suzuki singled home Brendan Ryan in the seventh to make it 6-3.
Seattle threatened in the first on back-to-back singles by Chone Figgins and Dustin Ackley, putting runners on first and third with none out. But Sale struck out Ichiro Suzuki and got Justin Smoak to ground into a double play.
The Mariners also put runners on second and third in the second inning, but could not score. They finally broke through in the third when Ichiro smacked a run-scoring double into the left field corner.
Mariners reliever Hisashi Iwakuma made his major league debut in the sixth inning. Iwakuma was the last player on an opening-day roster who wasn’t injured or sent to the minors to appear in a game this season. He pitched four innings and allowed just one run.
Casper Wells doubled twice for the Mariners, who went 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position.
AL WEST STANDINGS
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road | Last 10 | Streak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rangers | 11 | 2 | .846 | — | 5-2 | 6-0 | 9-1 | Won 7 |
| Athletics | 7 | 8 | .467 | 5.0 | 3-5 | 4-3 | 5-5 | Lost 1 |
| Mariners | 7 | 8 | .467 | 5.0 | 3-4 | 4-4 | 4-6 | Lost 2 |
| Angels | 5 | 9 | .357 | 6.5 | 3-5 | 2-4 | 3-7 | Won 1 |
MARINERS / STATS NOTES
- After losing Friday against the White Sox, 7-3, the Mariners are 3-4 during the current three-team, nine-game home stand; the Mariners are hitting just .214 at Safeco Field.
- With Friday’s loss, the Mariners are 183-213 all-time vs. the White Sox, including 104-93 in Seattle and 33-24 at Safeco Field.
- Seattle has scored four or more runs in in eight of 15 games, but managed just three runs on on nine hits Friday.
- After 15 games, the Mariners rank 13th in the AL in batting average (.235), 13th in on-base percentage (.285), 13th in slugging (.367) and 13th in OPS (.652).
- Every Mariner starter, except Justin Smoak (0-for-4) and Miguel Olivo (0-for-4), had at least one hit vs. Chicago. Smoak is batting .214 and Olivo .130.
- Former Mariner center fielder Ruppert Jones threw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to Friday’s game. Jones was the Mariners’ first All-Star in their inaugural season of 1977.
Felix Hernandez - Felix Follow-up: Felix Hernandez received a no-decision Thursday when he struck out 12 in 8 shutout innings. That marked Felix’s 16th no-decision while throwing 7 or more innings and allowing one or fewer runs.
- Ichiro has 756 multi-hit games (2-for-4 Friday), which ranks fourth among active players, and No. 1 since his debut in 2001. Ichiro’s 47 games with four or more hits leads all active players.
- Ichiro has 96 career home runs and needs four to become the 12th Mariner with 100. Breakdown: 94 as a leadoff hitter, one batting second, one batting third.
- Through 15 games, the Mariners are batting 28-for-115 (.243) with runners in scoring position. The Mariners went 1-for-13 with RISP Friday.
- Through 15 games, the Mariners have been out-homered 18-11.
- Through 15 games, the Mariners have left 82 men on base, their opponents 94. The Mariners stranded two Friday.
- Through 15 games, the Mariners have scored 56 runs, their opponents 61.
- Seattle’s bullpen has given up 10 homers in 15 games after leading the AL with just 32 allowed last season.
- The Mariners have four bases-loaded walks (Kawasaki, Ryan, Montero, Smoak), which leads the American League and is tied (w/SD) for the MLB lead. The Mariners had 13 bases loaded walks last season, T2nd in the AL.
- The Mariners are 6-1 when out-hitting the opponent. Friday’s game was the first this season that the Mariners had more hits (9) than their opponent and lost (Chicago had eight hits).
- Reliever Tom Wilhelmsen, who has appeared in eight of Seattle’s first 15 games, leads all American League relievers with 12 strikeouts.
- Until he made his debut against the White Sox Friday, RHP Hisashi Iwakuma had been the official the last man standing — the player that made an Opening Day roster and had yet to appear in a game (while not being optioned out or going on the DL). The race came down to Iwakuma, who has not pitched in the first 14 games, and White Sox starter Philip Humber, but Humber started Monday vs. Baltimore.
- Milestones: Kyle Seager’s single in the fourth inning Tuesday marked the 50,000th hit in Mariners’ history, and Brendan Ryan’s walk in the same frame scored Justin Smoak with the 25,000th run in franchise history.
- Two Mariners, Ichiro (March 28 in Tokyo vs. Oakland) and Justin Smoak (April 17 vs. Cleveland) have four-hit games in 2012.
- Jesus Montero owns Seattle’s longest hitting streak of 2012: eight games, from March 29-April 14.
- The Mariners have been shut out twice in 2012 (April 10 at Texas, April 13 vs Oakland).
- Three Mariners, Munenori Kawasaki, Lucas Luetge and Erasmo Ramirez, have made their MLB debuts this season.
- The Mariners have batted around three times: April 7 at Oakland (4th inning), April 9 at Texas (1st), and April 17 vs. Cleveland (4th). Justin Smoak had two hits in the fourth vs. Cleveland, a pair of singles.
- Mariners on the DL: Mike Carp (15-day), sprained right shoulder; Franklin Gutierrez (15-day), torn right pectoral; George Sherrill (15-day), strained flexor bundle. Gutierrez is still not ready to go out on a minor league rehab assignment, but Carp has begun rehab assignment with the Tacoma Rainiers.
- C Adam Moore underwent surgery Thursday to repair a right medial meniscus tear. Moore had to be removed from a Tacoma Rainiers game Monday after suffering the injury in the second inning. The Mariners have not announced how long Moore will be sidelined.
- The Mariners have three more our bobblehead nights after Ichiro’s Friday: May 25 (Dustin Ackley), June 15 (Felix Hernandez), July 28 (Dan Wilson and Randy Johnson). BTW: Ichiro is a career .311 hitter (15×45) on his 12 bobblehead nights.
- Series Records: Won 2, split 0, lost 2.
- Longest Win Streak: 2 (April 6-7, April 14-15).
- Longest Losing Streak: 2 (April 9-10, April 12-13, April 19-20).
MARINERS WON-LOSS BREAKDOWN
| Rec. | Home | Road | Day | Night | vs. RHP | vs. LHP | Hit HR | No HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7-8 | 3-4 | 4-4 | 0-1 | 7-7 | 7-6 | 0-2 | 5-4 | 2-4 |
MARINERS BATTING PROFILE
| Avg. | Home | Road | R | HR | OBP | SLG | OPS | RISP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .235 | .214 | .252 | 56 | 11 | .285 | .367 | .652 | .243 |
MARINERS PITCHING PROFILE
| Rec. | ERA | IP | R | ER | HR | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7-8 | 3.99 | 133.0 | 61 | 58 | 18 | .239 | .296 | .390 |
PROBABLE PITCHERS
| Date | Day | Opp. | Probable Pitchers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4/21 | Sat | vs. CWS | Beavan (1-1, 2.70) vs. Humber (0-0, 1.69) |
| 4/22 | Sun | vs. CWS | Millwood (1-1, 6.30) vs. Danks (1-2, 4.82) |
MARINERS 2012 SCHEDULE/RESULTS
March
| Gm.# | Date | Opp. | W/L | Rec. | Win / Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3/28 | at Oak | W, 3-1 | 1-0 | W: Wilhelmsen (1-0); L: Carignan (0-1) |
| 2 | 3/29 | at Oak | L, 4-1 | 1-1 | W: Colon (1-0); L: Kelley (0-1) |
April
| Gm. # | Date | Opp. | W/L | Rec. | Win / Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 4/6 | at Oak | W, 7-3 | 2-1 | W: Vargas (1-0); L: McCarthy (0-1) |
| 4 | 4/7 | at Oak | W, 8-7 | 3-1 | W: Hernandez (1-0); L: Colon (1-1) |
| 5 | 4/9 | at Tex | L, 11-5 | 3-2 | W: Darvish (1-0); L: Noesi (0-1) |
| 6 | 4/10 | at Tex | L, 1-0 | 3-3 | W: Feliz (1-0); L: Beavan (0-1) |
| 7 | 4/11 | at Tex | W, 4-3 | 4-3 | W: Luetge (1-0); L: Nathan (0-2) |
| 8 | 4/12 | at Tex | L, 5-3 | 4-4 | W: Holland (1-0); L: Vargas (1-1 |
| 9 | 4/13 | vs Oak | L, 4-0 | 4-5 | W: Colon (2-1); L: Hernandez (1-1) |
| 10 | 4/14 | vs. Oak | W, 4-0 | 5-5 | W: Noesi (1-1); L: Milone (1-1) |
| 11 | 4/15 | vs. Oak | W, 5-3 | 6-5 | W: Beavan (1-1); L: Godfrey (0-2) |
| 12 | 4/17 | vs. Cle | L, 9-8 | 6-6 | W: Perez (0-1); L: Furbush (0-1) |
| 13 | 4/18 | vs. Cle | W, 4-1 | 7-6 | W: Vargas (2-1); L: Lowe (2-1) |
| 14 | 4/19 | vs. Cle | L, 2-1 | 7-7 | W: Tomlin (1-1); L: League (0-1) |
| 15 | 4/20 | vs. CWS | L, 7-3 | 7-8 | W: Sale (2-1); L: Noesi (1-2) |
| 16 | 4/21 | vs. CWS | — | — | — |
| 17 | 4/22 | vs. CWS | — | — | — |
| 18 | 4/24 | at Det | — | — | — |
| 19 | 4/25 | at Det | — | — | — |
| 20 | 4/26 | at Det | — | — | — |
| 21 | 4/27 | at Tor | — | — | — |
| 22 | 4/28 | at Tor | — | — | — |
| 23 | 4/29 | at Tor | — | — | — |
| 24 | 4/30 | at TB | — | — | — |