Mariners at Giants
Despite the recent loss of slugger Nelson Cruz, the top of the Seattle Mariners' order continues to click. The Mariners' bats will try to lead the team to a third straight win and a sweep of their two-game interleague series with the host San Francisco Giants on Wednesday.
Cruz was placed on the 10-day disabled list Tuesday, robbing Seattle of its cleanup hitter, but the club produced four first-inning runs en route to a 6-4 win in the series opener. The top four hitters in the lineup went a combined 8-for-18 with three RBIs and six runs scored, and all four are batting .375 or better for the Mariners. The result spoiled the home opener for the Giants, who have lost three in a row after opening the season with back-to-back 1-0 wins at Los Angeles. Wednesday's pitching matchup features a pair of veterans looking to rebound in 2018 as Seattle's Felix Hernandez opposes San Francisco's Johnny Cueto - both of whom got off to excellent starts with scoreless outings last week.
TV: 7:15 p.m. ET, ROOT Sports Northwest (Seattle), NBCS Bay Area (San Francisco)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Mariners RH Felix Hernandez (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Giants RH Johnny Cueto (0-0, 0.00)
Hernandez yielded two hits and two walks with four strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings against Cleveland on Opening Day. The one-time Cy Young Award winner is 23-9 with a 2.92 ERA in 42 career interleague starts and 3-0 with a 1.86 mark in four outings against the Giants. San Francisco newcomers Evan Longoria and Andrew McCutchen are a combined 8-for-38 with 16 strikeouts against Hernandez.
Cueto retired the first 18 batters he faced in a season-opening start at the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday, a game the Giants would win 1-0 on a run in the ninth. He struggled to a 2-3 mark and a 4.60 ERA in 12 home starts last year, producing just one quality start in his last five outings at AT&T Park. The 32-year-old has a 2.84 ERA in two previous meetings with the Mariners and is 14-7 with a 2.80 ERA in 31 career interleague starts.
WALK-OFFS
1. Seattle recalled UTIL Taylor Motter to take Cruz's spot on the roster.
2. Giants 2B Joe Panik slugged his third home run in Tuesday's loss and has hit safely in each of his first five games.
3. The Mariners have won 14 of the last 19 meetings between the teams.