Cubs at Mariners
Marco Gonzales attempts to become the first six-game winner in the major leagues when his Seattle Mariners host the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday for the finale of their two-game series. Gonzales registered nine strikeouts over seven scoreless innings of a victory over Texas in his last turn.
Gonzales will square off against veteran Jon Lester as he tries to help the Mariners gain a split after the Cubs recorded a 6-5 win in Tuesday's series opener. Kyle Schwarber hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning - his first blast since April 8 - to lift Chicago to its third straight win and 10th in 13 contests. Seattle has allowed 35 runs during its three-game slide and is just 5-12 after opening the season with a stellar 13-2 run. Dee Gordon has recorded three multi-hit performances for the Mariners in his last four games, going 7-for-16 during the stretch.
TV: 6:40 p.m. ET, WGN (Chicago), ROOT Northwest (Seattle)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cubs LH Jon Lester (1-1, 2.37 ERA) vs. Mariners LH Marco Gonzales (5-0, 2.80)
Lester will be making his second start since coming off the injured list due to a hamstring injury suffered on April 8. The 35-year-old lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in his return as he gave up one run and four hits over five innings in a 2-1 setback. Lester is 6-4 with a 3.27 ERA in 13 career starts against Seattle and has easily handled Jay Bruce (3-for-26, seven strikeouts).
Gonzales has allowed fewer than three earned runs in four of his last five outings. The 27-year-old former All-American at Gonzaga has replaced the traded James Paxton as the staff ace and leads the club with 34 strikeouts in 45 innings. Gonzales faced the Cubs while with St. Louis in 2014 and picked up his first major-league victory by allowing one run and three hits over six frames.
WALK-OFFS
1. Cubs RHP Brandon Morrow (elbow), who has yet to pitch this season, received an injection Monday and won't throw for at least two or three weeks.
2. Seattle optioned the slumping Mallex Smith (.165) to Triple-A Tacoma and recalled fellow OF Braden Bishop - who went 0-for-3 on Tuesday - from the same affiliate.
3. Chicago president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said SS Addison Russell will be optioned to Triple-A Iowa on Thursday after his 40-game suspension for a domestic-violence incident concludes.