Things are going from bad to worse for the Seattle Mariners (34-42) as they dropped their second consecutive game Sunday with a heart-breaking loss to the Los Angeles Angels. The Mariners will look to get their season back on track when they take on the San Diego Padres (37-41) in their series opener tonight.
Read on below for a breakdown of this interleague matchup and while you’re at it, you can check out our preview of the game between the Chicago Cubs and the New York Mets here.
Seattle’s losing woes continued on Sunday as it suffered a gut-wrenching defeat to the Los Angeles Angels. The Mariners wasted a great pitching performance from Felix Hernandez as the Angels squeaked out a 3-2 victory in extra innings.
[sc:MLB240banner ]The Mariners will look to return to winning ways tonight when they take on the San Diego Padres in the opening game of their three-game set. They will fancy their chances of doing just that as they have Mike Montgomery (2-2, 2.04 ERA) on the mound tonight. Montgomery was phenomenal in his last start for Seattle, throwing a five-hit shutout in the Mariners’ 7-0 win against the Kansas City Royals.
The 25-year-old lefty has been outstanding in five starts in place of the injured James Paxton. His only other road start this year came on June 13 when the Mariners defeated the Astros, 8-1. The rookie was superb in that game as well, allowing just one run on six hits in six innings of action.
He can’t do it all alone, though, and he needs Seattle’s offense to pick up the scoring slack as well. The Mariners are the worst offensive team in the majors right now, placing bottom in runs scored (255), hits (587) and batting average (.230). Expected to lead the Mariners lineup tonight is Dustin Ackley. He’s batting 3-of-9 in his last five games with two RBIs and one home run. Ackley is 1-of-3 lifetime against Padres starter Ian Kennedy.
The total has gone under in the Mariners’ last three road games.
San Diego had its two-game winning streak snapped on Sunday with a 6-4 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Welington Castillo, Jake Lamb and David Peralta all homered for Arizona as the Diamondbacks avoided the three-game sweep.
The Padres will look to return to the win column tonight when they take on the struggling Seattle Mariners. Starting for San Diego tonight is Ian Kennedy (4-6, 5.09 ERA). The Padres have won four of their last five games with Kennedy as their starter. Kennedy has a 2.40 ERA in five June starts, holding opposing batters to a .241 average.
He was superb in his last start for the Padres, allowing just one run on five hits in six innings of action against the Giants. Unfortunately for Kennedy, the Padres didn’t give him enough run support as they suffered a humiliating 6-0 setback.
The onus is on the San Diego hitters to make amends tonight and provide some runs for the right-hander. Expected to lead the Padres offense tonight against the Mariners are Cory Spangenberg and Clint Barmes. Spangenberg is 4-of-9 (.444) with two runs scored in his last seven games while Barmes is 5-of-15 (.333) with one RBI in his last six outings.
