Erik Bedard(notes) is finally pitching like the Seattle Mariners envisioned when
they acquired him from the Baltimore Orioles over three years ago.

Bedard looks to win his fourth straight decision and lead the Mariners to
their 11th victory in 13 games when he takes the mound against his former team
Tuesday night.

Seattle obtained Bedard as part of a six-player trade in February 2008 after
he went 13-5 for Baltimore the previous season. The left-hander has won only 14
games since then, however, as much of his time with the Mariners has been
plagued by injuries.

Bedard has made five trips to the disabled list since the trade and missed
all of last season while recovering from left shoulder surgery – his third in as
many years. He got off to another rough start to this season, recording a 7.71
ERA in losing his first four outings, but he’s 3-0 with a 1.09 ERA in five
starts since.

“I’ve felt the same all the way the whole season, it’s just now the results
are getting better,” Bedard said after allowing six hits in six innings in
Wednesday’s 3-0 win over Minnesota.

Bedard (3-4, 3.48) extended his scoreless innings streak to 15.

“He’s just been very consistent with his fastball and his breaking ball and
developing more confidence in his changeup,” manager Eric Wedge said.

Bedard is still seeking his first win at Safeco Field since defeating
Minnesota on June 7, 2009, a span of eight starts. He beat the Orioles at home
five days earlier and is 1-0 with a 2.61 ERA in two games against them, striking
out 15 in 10 1-3 innings.

Bedard could be in line for another strong performance against struggling
Baltimore (24-28).

The Mariners (27-26) won Monday’s series opener 4-3, sending the Orioles to
their fourth straight defeat following a five-game winning streak. Baltimore has
scored 11 runs and is batting .129 (4 for 31) with runners in scoring position
during its skid.

Nick Markakis(notes), Baltimore’s No. 3 hitter, is 2 for 15 (.133) in the last four
games, while cleanup hitter Vladimir Guerrero(notes) is 3 for 15 (.200) with two RBIs.

“We’re doing a lot of things that are frustrating, not just not hitting with
runners in scoring position,” catcher Matt Wieters(notes) said.

While the Orioles are trying to avoid their first five-game skid since
dropping a season-high eight in a row ril 9-18, Seattle is an AL-best 10-2
since May 18.

The Mariners defeated Baltimore for a fourth straight time at Safeco Field
on Monday, as Ichiro Suzuki(notes) extended his streak of reaching base against the
Orioles to 31 games. Suzuki has a .375 on-base percentage with 45 hits during
the run.

However, he is batting .216 in May and will finish with his lowest average
for any month of his career. His previous lowest average was .233 in August
2006.

The 10-time All-Star is hitting .308 (8 for 26) against scheduled starter
Jeremy Guthrie(notes), who is 0-2 with a 6.06 ERA in his last three starts versus the
Mariners.

Guthrie (2-6, 3.63) allowed five runs and nine hits in seven innings in
Thursday’s 6-5, 12-inning win over Kansas City.

In his lone outing against the Mariners last season, the right-hander
yielded six runs in eight innings of a 6-5 loss Aug. 18.

SEATTLE —

Jack Cust hit the second triple of his career, driving in two runs to help the Seattle Mariners beat the Baltimore Orioles 4-3 Monday.

Doug Fister (3-5) went 7 1-3 innings to pick up his first victory since ril 30. He allowed three runs on seven hits, walked one and struck out a career-high nine in his 49th career start.

Fister threw 23 of 30 first-pitch strikes. He is 3-2 with a 3.02 ERA over his past eight starts.

Brandon League worked the ninth for his 14th save in 17 opportunities.

Ichiro Suzuki, steeped in his worst career slump – 1 of 22 over his previous five games – had a pair of singles and scored twice. He now has a career .367 average against Baltimore, the best against any team. He has at least one hit in 40 of the last 42 games he has played against the Orioles.

The Mariners have won 10 of 12 games and are 19-11 over their past 30 games. They also have assured just their second winning May (14-11) since 2004.

Jake Arrieta (6-3) lasted just 2 1-3 innings for the Orioles, allowing four hits, four runs and walking four.

Suzuki greeted Arrieta with a sharp first-inning single to right. With one out, Justin Smoak walked and Cust followed with a two-run triple. The high flyball hit halfway up the right-center wall then bounced away from the fielders.

His first triple came on Aug. 18, 2007, for Oakland against Kansas City.

Mark Reynolds drilled the first hit against Fister in the third, a solo shot into the second deck in left field. It was his seventh.

Suzuki then initiated the Mariners two-run, third-inning rally with a leadoff single that caromed off Arrieta’s left leg. Brendan Ryan followed with a single to left, extending his hitting streak to a career-high 10 games. Smoak walked to load the bases.

After Cust flied out to shallow left, Arrieta issued successive bases-loaded walks to Adam Kennedy and Miguel Olivo for a 4-1 score.

The Orioles rallied for two off Fister in the eighth. Robert Andino opened with a one-hop shot that third baseman Chone Figgins couldn’t handle. Felix Pie then singled to right with Andino raced around to third. With one out, Nick Markakis singled to right, scoring Andino to make it 4-2.

Jamey Wright took over for Fister and induced Vladimir Guerrero to hit a hard grounder to Figgins’ left. The ball bounced off Figgins’ glove for an error, allowing Pie to score.

Aaron Laffey entered and ended the rally by getting Luke Scott on a grounder.

NOTES: Figgins, struggling with a .193 batting average, was moved from second to eighth in the Mariners’ lineup. “I’ve been through stuff like this before. My mind says I’m not going to change. I’ll try to do the same things, play defense and try to create some havoc.” Manager Eric Wedge says Figgins is looking for the ‘feel’ a hitter needs. “That’s what he’s lost and what he’s working to get back,” he said. Figgins was 0 for 3 with two strikeouts and an error. RHP Chris Jakubauskas returned from rehab (strained groin) at Triple-A Norfolk. He replaced RHP Chris Tillman, optioned to Norfolk. Orioles CF Adam Jones sat out Monday as a precaution because of a sore shoulder. He is day to day. LHP Brian Matusz will come off his rehab assignment (strained intercoastal) and start Wednesday against Seattle.

The Seattle Mariners won their fourth consecutive series over the weekend, defeating the New York Yankees two games to one at Safeco Field.

The significance of the trend shouldn’t be overlooked. The Mariners (26-26) are playing great clutch baseball and the pitching staff/defense has allowed just 32 runs during a 10-3 stretch (2.46 per game).

However, there are some truths that can’t be sustainable if Seattle truly hopes to contend in what pears to be a soft AL West.

Lead off hitter Ichiro Suzuki is mired in an unusual slump. For the month of May the perennial hits king is batting .204. No. 2 hitter, third baseman Chone Figgins is batting .193 on the season.

Suzuki should rebound. Figgins, on the other hand, should never again be allowed near the No. 2 hole. Even last year when he batted a dispointing .259, his on-base percentage was .340. This year it’s .235.

A solution would be to bump the hot Adam Kennedy to the No. 2 hole. But he and first baseman Justin Smoak are the team’s best middle-of-the-order hitters. But what’s the point in having a mediocre middle if the top is faltering?

What Seattle ultimately needs is to make a bold trade to add a power bat and drop Figgins to the bottom of the lineup until he proves he can return to the form displayed while with the Los Angeles Angels.

Links to Mariners’ news:

  SEATTLE
MARINERS
  Record: 26-26 (3rd place, 1.5 back in AL west).
  Next up: 1 p.m., today vs. Baltimore (24-27).
  Pitching: Doug Fister (2-5, 3.18) vs. Jake Arrieta (6-2, 4.57).
  Team statistics: Seattle’s stats
 

Seattle Times

The News Tribune

SeattlePI.com

SeattleMariners.com
Tacoma Rainiers

–Aaron Fentress  

A piping hot cup of fresh sports tidbits.

by Brian Floyd • May 30, 2011 9:00 AM PDT

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The major thing to remember is that the Seattle Mariners won the weekend series with the New York Yankees. That was an accomplishment.

Sure, Sunday’s 7-1 pasting by the Yankees stung a little. Yes, a three-game winning streak was snped, but still, Seattle (26-26) has won nine of its past 11 games.

Of course, a loss so thorough can s enthusiasm.

The Mariners were in the game for all of two innings before a hitting barrage by the Yankees put the game out of reach in the top of the third.

Seattle’s stay in second place in the American League West lasted less than 24 hours. The loss, coupled with a Los Angeles Angels win, dropped the Mariners back to third place.

But a sweep of the Yankees (28-23) isn’t something that hpens often. The Mariners have not done so since May 3-5, 2002, at old Yankee Stadium, and they haven’t pulled off a home sweep since 1996.

Why?

Well, because the Yankees are good. They had their ace, CC Sabathia, on the mound. And their bats were bound to come to life.

“They have a lot of the best players in the game,” Mariners starter Jason Vargas said. “You really have to be on top of your stuff and you have to make pitches.”

But Vargas wasn’t on top of his stuff.

“He was behind a lot today,” Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. “He was just missing pitches. So many pitches he threw were just missing.”

The Yankees weren’t about to swing at those bad pitches. It started with the first at-bat when Derek Jeter drew a walk.

In the second inning, Vargas got up 0-2 on Nick Swisher. But Swisher shrugged off two changeups out of the zone and then fouled off two fastballs on the corners before getting a fastball he could handle, driving it for a home run.

“When you give them an opportunity to see that many pitches, they are going to wait for you to make mistakes,” Vargas said.

Things fell art in the third inning.

Vargas walked Jeter to lead off, then gave up a single to Curtis Granderson.

Vargas got Mark Teixeira to bounce out to the mound as the runners advanced. Alex Rodriguez then hit a hard ground ball to Chone Figgins at third. Figgins fired high to home, but catcher Chris Gimenez made a brilliant play, jumping and grabbing the ball and coming down and blocking Granderson off the plate for the second out.

But Vargas had trouble getting the third out. He gave up an RBI single to Robinson Cano, and then Swisher worked a walk after falling behind 1-2.

That brought up Andruw Jones with the bases loaded. Vargas got up 0-2, but Jones wouldn’t chase two pitches on the outside. Vargas continued to nibble on that corner, but his cut fastball caught just a little too much of the plate and Jones drove it into the corner in right field for a double, clearing the bases.

Eduardo Nunez followed with a triple to score Jones and a 1-0 contest had turned into a 6-0 runaway.

“When you get behind, and with runners on base, they make you pay,” Vargas said. “I got behind and had to force the issue.”

Vargas was done after three innings and 80 pitches, giving up six runs on five hits with four walks and one strikeout.

Down 6-0 against most pitchers is basically impossible for the light-hitting Mariners, even with six innings to play. But down 6-0 against Sabathia?

Seattle did little against the 2007 Cy Young Award winner. Sabathia cruised through eight innings allowing five hits and one run – a Justin Smoak solo homer.

“He’s always good,” Smoak said. “You know you are going to have to battle… to get anything off of him.”

Perhs more disconcerting is the lack of production from the two hitters in front of Smoak. Both Ichiro Suzuki and Chone Figgins are slumping. Figgins has two hits in 36 at-bats and his average has sunk to .193. Ichiro, with one hit in 22 at-bats, is batting .272.

“I think both those guys up top are trying to do too much,” Wedge said. “One thing you can’t do is get (it) all back in one game or one at-bat. You have to focus on putting together a good at-bat before the performance and results come.”

Ryan Divish: 253-597-8483 ryan.divish@thenewstribune.com