Mariners at Cubs
The Chicago Cubs took out their frustration with the bats late in the series opener and gave themselves a chance to finish off a sweep of the two-game interleague set with the visiting Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night. The Cubs had been shut out for 24 straight innings before Kyle Schwarber highlighted a five-run, seventh-inning rally with a three-run triple in Monday’s 5-1 win to solidify their hold of the National League’s second wild card.
Anthony Rizzo finished 2-for-2 with an RBI single in the 10th victory over the last 15 contests for Chicago, which leads Philadelphia by 2 1/2 games for the second wild card and trails first-place St. Louis by three games in the NL Central. Veteran left-hander Jon Lester (188 career wins) gets the call for the Cubs in the series finale and Seattle counters with veteran righty Felix Hernandez (169 wins), who makes his third start after a long stint on the injured list. The Mariners have dropped six of their last eight games after managing just four hits and striking out 10 times in Monday’s loss as they continue a 10-game road trip, which ends with four games at Houston starting on Thursday. Kyle Seager, who boasts a franchise-record 24 homers in interleague games, had one of the hits for Seattle in the series opener and Mallex Smith needs one stolen base to become the first Mariner to swipe 40 in a season since Ichiro Suzuki in 2011.
TV: 8:05 p.m. ET, ROOT Northwest (Seattle), NBCS Chicago
PITCHING MATCHUP: Mariners RH Felix Hernandez (1-4, 6.02 ERA) vs. Cubs LH Jon Lester (11-9, 4.36)
Hernandez has given the Mariners a chance to win in both his starts since missing more than three months with a shoulder injury, allowing five runs over 10 2/3 innings combined in two no-decisions. The 33-year-old Venezuelan gave up three runs on five hits at Texas in his last start on Thursday. Rizzo and Nicholas Castellanos are both 2-for-5 with a homer versus Hernandez, who yielded four runs over six frames in a no-decision against the Cubs on April 30.
Lester produced two strong outings, sandwiching a poor performance, in his last three of August after permitting one run over six innings at the New York Mets on Thursday. The 35-year-old gave up six runs over 4 2/3 innings in a loss to Washington on Aug. 23, just six days after spinning six scoreless frames at Pittsburgh in a victory. Seager has two homers against Lester, who allowed one hit and struck out eight in seven scoreless innings in a win at Seattle on May 1.
WALK-OFFS
1. Seattle 1B/DH Daniel Vogelbach needs one homer to become the seventh player in franchise history with at least 30 blasts and 80 walks.
2. Chicago SS Javier Baez (29 homers, 85 RBIs) missed the series opener with a left thumb injury and could be held out Tuesday as well.
3. Mariners C Omar Narvaez (19 homers, 49 RBIs) was scratched from the lineup Monday due to back spasms.