#11: Mariners After 2nd Series Win Vs. Oakland

GAME: Athletics (4-5, 3rd, AL West, -3.0 GB) at Mariners (5-5, 2nd AL West, -2.5 GB). GAME #: 11. SERIES: 3rd of 3 games. MEETING (2012): 7th (Mariners lead 4-2). WHEN: Sunday, 1:10 p.m., Safeco Field. PROBABLE PITCHERS: RHP Graham Godfrey (Oakland, 1-0, 3.00) vs. RHP Blake Beavan (Seattle, 0-1, 1.42). STREAKS: Mariners W 1; Athletics L 1. TV: ROOT Sports, MLB TV. RADIO: KIRO 710 (Seattle), Mariners Radio Network.

Behind Hector Noesi’s eight shutout innings and Jesus Montero’s first home run as a Mariner, Seattle snapped a two-game losing streak Saturday night, beating Oakland 4-0, and will look to win its second series of the season Sunday in the third of a three-game series against the Athletics.

The Mariners will start RHP Blake Beavan, who had a superlative, although losing, start against the Texas Rangers last week. Beavan will oppose RHP Graham Godfrey, who is coming off a tough loss to the Kansas City Royals.

The Mariners, idle Monday, host Cleveland in a Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday series, followed by the Chicago White Sox Friday through Sunday. The Mariners then hit the road for series in Detroit, Toronto and Tampa.

A closer look at today’s starting pitchers:

MARINERS: RHP Blake Beavan (0-1, 1.42 ERA, 1.11 WHIP)

The 23-year-old Beavan, in his second major league season and second with the Mariners, will be making his second start of the season and the fourth of his career against the Athletics.

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.

Beavan made his major league debut July 3 against the San Diego Padres. He worked 7.0 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 a career record of 5-7, 4.09 ERA and 1.239 WHIP.

• LAST START: Allowed one earned run over 6.1 innings, struck out three and walked one, but was bested by Neftali Feliz of the Rangers, who beat the Mariners in a rare 1-0 verdict at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington; faced 26 batters, throwing 88 pitches, including 58 for strikes; recorded five ground-ball outs and 16 fly-ball outs.
• LAST VS. ATHLETICS: Raked for seven earned runs on eight hits over 5 innings and sustained a 7-0 loss Sept. 27, 2011; walked four, fanned two, but gave up two home runs (Willingham, Sizemore).
• CAREER VS. ATHLETICS: Three games, all starts, 7.56 ERA, 1-2 record; has pitched 16.2 innings vs. Oakland, allowing 14 earned runs, including two home runs; fans 5.4 batters per 9, walks 1.43 batters per 9.
• AT SAFECO FIELD: Nine starts; 4-4 record with a 4.41 ERA; allowed 31 runs and 11 home runs.
• LOVES TO FACE: Cliff Pennington (0-for-4, .000 BA), Josh Reddick (1-for-6, .167 BA), Jemile Weeks (2-for-10, .200 BA, .200 OBP).
• HATES TO FACE: Coco Crisp (2-for-5, .400 BA, 2 BB), Kurt Suzuki (2-for-6, .333 BA, 1 BB).
• CURRENT ATHLETICS VS. BEAVAN: 10-for-41, .244 BA, 2 HRs, 8 RBIs.

Beavan In 2012

• April 12 (L, 0-1): Worked 6.1 innings and allowed one earned run, but couldn’t overcome the start by Texas’ Neftali Feliz, who had eight shutout innings.

ATHLETICS: RHP Graham Godfrey (0-1, 3.00 ERA, 1.17 WHIP)

The 27-year-old Godfrey, in his second major league season and second with the Athletics, will be making his second start of 2012 and his first against the Mariners.

A native of Tampa, FL., the 6-3, 215-pound Godfrey was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 34th round of the 2006 amateur draft.

The Blue Jays traded Godfrey Nov. 7, 2006 with Kristian Bell (minors) to the Athletics for Marco Scutaro.

Godfrey toiled in the minor leagues from 2008 through the early part of 2011, stopping in Class A Stockton (California League), AAA Sacramento (PCL) and AA Midland (Texas League) before reaching the major leagues.

After compiling a 40-34, 4.12 minor league record (high of 14 wins in 2011), Godfrey made his debut with Oakland June 10, 2011, with a 4.1-inning stint against the Chicago White Sox in which he allowed nine hits and five earned runs.

Godfrey appeared in five games, which included four starting assignments. He had his most successful outing June 17, when he worked a career-high 7 innings, allowing one earned run on six hits and collected the win in a 5-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

Graham, who attended Memorial High School in Houston and the College of Charleston, has a career record of 1-3, 3.77.

LAST START: Worked 6.0 innings and allowed two earned runs on six hits, losing to the Kansas City Royals 3-0 at Oakland; faced 24 batters and threw 85 pitches, 54 for strikes; pitched effectively for the first three innings, then got into trouble in the fourth when he gave up both runs.

LAST VS. MARINERS: Never faced.

LAST GAME

Mariners 4, Athletics 0

AT SEATTLE (April 14): Hector Noesi, brutalized in his first start as a Mariner last week in Texas, tossed eight shutout innings and Jesus Montero drilled a 415-foot home run and and a two-run double as the Mariners snapped a two-game losing streak by defeating the Oakland Athletics at Safeco Field.

“It was cool,” Montero said. “It was exciting for me to hit a home run in this field. It’s a huge field. I was impressed.”

Noesi and Montero became Mariners over the winter in a trade that sent Michael Pineda to the New York Yankees.

“Hector did a great job of mixing all of his pitches, of using all of his pitches,” Seattle manager Eric Wedge said. “He did a nice job when he was ahead but he did a nice job when he was behind, too. He was a complete pitcher out there. And Jesus did a great job of sticking his nose in there. He really stepped up for us an had a real nice game.”

Noesi allowed five hits, struck out six and walked just one in recording his first victory in a Seattle uniform.

“He pounded the strike zone,” Oakland’s Kurt Suzuki said. “He had it run a little bit, he threw changeups in there. He just threw very well.”

The Mariners had almost no offense to speak of aside from Montero, collecting only three singles and a double, that by Dustin Ackley. Cleanup hitter Justin Smoak went 0-for-3, his average dropping to .179.

“He has to get better with his plate discipline,” Wedge said of Smoak.

Attendance: 21.071.

AL WEST STANDINGS

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road	Last 10	Streak
Rangers	7	2	.778	—	5-2	2-0	7-2	Won 3
Mariners	5	5	.500	2.5	1-1	4-4	5-4	Won 1
Athletics	4	5	.444	3.0	3-4	1-1	4-5	Lost 1
Angels	3	5	.375	3.5	1-2	2-3	3-5	Won 1

MARINERS / STATS NOTES

• Before scoring four runs Saturday, the Mariners had been shut out in four of their past five Safeco Field games dating to the 2011 season. Friday’s 4-0 loss ran Seattle’s home scoreless streak to 29.0 innings.
• The Mariners have been outscored 17-9 in the seventh inning or later this season.
• The Mariners have been shut out twice in 2012 (April 10 at Texas, April 13 vs Oakland). They didn’t suffer their second blanking of 2011 until May 7.
• DH Jesus Montero has a hit in eight of his nine games as a Mariner, including a current, career-high, eight–game hitting streak.
• Casper Wells’ single in the seventh inning was his first of the 2012 season.
• The Mariners and Athletics (along with the rest of MLB) will celebrate Jackie Robinson Day Sunday. All game jerseys will feature Robinson’s No. 42.
• The Mariners and Athletics have played six of the 19 meetings they will have in 2012.
• Seattle’s bullpen has given up nine homers in 10 games after leading the AL with just 32 allowed last season.
• The Mariners went 1-for-4 with men in scoring position Saturday and left three men on base.
• Through 10 games, the Mariners are batting 20–for-68 (.294) with runners in scoring position.
• After 10 games, the Mariners have just one .300 hitter — Jesus Montero, .323 — in their starting lineup; two starters — C Miguel Olivo (.121) and 1B Justin Smoak (.179) — are below .200, and SS Brendan Ryan is batting exactly .200.
• Despite Montero’s home run Saturday, the Mariners have been out-homered through 10 games, 14-5.
• Carlos Peguero underwent surgery on his left knee to repair a torn medial meniscus. Peguero hurt the knee while rounding the bases in a AAA game. No timetable has been set for his return, but the usual is 4-6 weeks.
• Ichiro (0–for-4 Saturday) has 223 career games with three or more hits, which ranks third among active players, trailing only Derek Jeter (265) and Alex Rodriguez (231), both of whom started their careers four years before Ichiro. Ichiro’s 753 multi-hit games rank 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.
• Through 10 games, the Mariners have left 55 men on base, their opponents 61.
• Through 1o games, the Mariners have been outscored, 39-35.
• According to Stats Inc., the Mariners had an average age of 28.33 when the Opening Day rosters were set, the second-youngest American League roster and the fourth-youngest in the majors.
• The Mariners roster features 7 rookies: RHP Steve Delabar, RHP Hisashi Iwakuma, LHP Lucas Luetge, RHP Erasmo Ramirez, C/ DH Jesus Montero, INF Alex Liddi & INF Munenori Kawasaki. Last season the Mariners used 18 rookies, and had a club-record 12 players make their MLB debuts.
• According to The Associated Press, the Mariners have the 18th-highest payroll in the majors, at just under $82 million. That’s down from $94 million in 2011. Of the $82 million, Felix Hernandez, Ichiro, Chone Figgins, Franklin Gutierrez and Brandon League take up slightly more than $58 million of that total (the Yankees have baseball’s top payroll for the 14th consecutive year, $198 million).
• Series Records: Won 1, Split 0, Lost 1.

MARINERS WON-LOSS BREAKDOWN

Rec.	Home	Road	Day	Night	vs. RHP	vs. LHP	Hit HR	No HR
5-5	1-1	4-4	0-1	5-4	5-4	0-1	3-2	2-3

MARINERS BATTING PROFILE

Avg.	Home	Road	R	HR	OBP	SLG	OPS	RISP
.235	.103	.259	35	5	.271	.344	.616	.294

MARINERS PITCHING PROFILE

Rec.	ERA	IP	R	ER	HR	BA	OBP	SLG
5-5	3.89	88.0	39	38	14	.241	.292	.411

PROBABLE PITCHERS

Date	Day	Opp.	Probable Pitchers
4/15	Sun	vs. Oak	Beavan (0-1, 1.42) vs. Godfrey (0-1, 3.00)
4/17	Tue	vs. Clev	Millwood (0-0, 1.50) vs. Masterson (0-1, 2.77)
4/18	Wed	vs. Clev	Vargas (1-1, 3.44) vs. Lowe (1-0, 0.00)
4/19	Thr	vs. Clev	Fernandez (Friday) vs. Tomlin (0-1, 7.20)

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: Moline (1-1)
11	4/15	vs. Oak	—	—	—
12	4/17	vs. Cle	—	—	—
13	4/18	vs. Cle	—	—	—
14	4/19	vs. Cle	—	—	—
15	4/20	vs. CWS	—	—	—
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	—	—	—