Series Preview: Mariners at Tigers

 
Seattle Mariners (8-15) at Detroit Tigers (12-10)

Probable Pitchers:

Tuesday April 26, 7:05p:
RHP Felix Hernandez (2-2, 3.38) vs. LHP Phil Coke (1-3, 2.75)

SEA - Felix Hernandez (6-2, 2.68 ERA, 13 BB, 62 K vs. Detroit)
Hitter to Fear: Miguel Cabrera (7 for 14, 2 2B, 2 RBI vs. Hernandez)
Hitter to Fail: Brandon Inge (.176, 6 K vs. Hernandez)

DET - Phil Coke (0-1, 2.61 ERA, 7 BB, 9 K vs. Seattle)
Hitter to Fear: Ichiro Suzuki (.429, 2 BB, 2 SB vs. Coke)
Hitter to Fail: Milton Bradley (0 for 3 vs. Coke in 2011)

Wednesday April 27, 7:05p:
LHP Erik Bedard (0-4, 7.71 ERA) vs. RHP Justin Verlander (2-2, 3.50)

SEA - Erik Bedard (1-3, 5.06 ERA, 13 BB, 22 K vs. Detroit)
Hitter to Fear: Jhonny Peralta (.300, 1 HR, 4 RBI vs. Bedard)
Hitter to Fail: Miguel Cabrera (.273, 6 K vs. Bedard)

DET - Justin Verlander (7-5, 3.47 ERA, 16 BB, 70 K vs. Seattle)
Hitter to Fear: Milton Bradley (.357, 1 HR, 4 RBI vs. Verlander)
Hitter to Fail: Chone Figgins (.160, 4 BB, 12 K vs. Verlander)

Thursday April 28, 1:05p:
RHP Michael Peneda (3-1, 1.78) vs. RHP Brad Penny (1-2, 6.35)

SEA - Michael Pineda (Has never faced Detroit)
Hitter to Fear: Has never faced a current Tigers hitter.
Hitter to Fail: Has never faced a current Tigers hitter.

DET - Brad Penny (0-1, 5.25 ERA, 1 BB, 8 K vs. Seattle)
Hitter to Fear: Adam Kennedy (.368, 2 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI vs. Penny)
Hitter to Fail: Miguel Olivo (2 for 5, 2 K vs. Penny)

Lineup Notes:
Magglio Ordonez is expected to remain at designated hitter for this series. Also expect to see the carousel of lineup changes between Raburn, Rhymes, Wells and Santiago until someone gets heated up.

Analysis:
The Mariners are very patient hitters, leading the majors with 92 BB, Tigers pitchers will have to remain sharp and throw strikes to win this series. It will all start with Phil Coke on Tuesday night and he is coming off a very shaky start in Seattle on April 19th. On a good note, this marks his 2nd start at home in Detroit this season. His Comerica Park debut - 6.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 7 K against the Royals.

Mariners will counter with their ace Felix Hernandez, who after some below average starts early in the season, is coming off an impressive game against the Athletics.

While the Tigers may have been hoping for a better pitching match-up, their bats have been rolling lately. With the White Sox in town this past weekend, the Tigers combined for 21 runs on 36 hits.

Tiger's leadoff man Austin Jackson appears to be showing signs of crawling out of his early season slump. In the White Sox series, Jackson went 5 for 13 with 1 BB and 3 strikeouts.

The Tigers will not only have trouble with Felix Hernandez, but youngster Michael Peneda is a name to start remembering. In his previous 3 starts this season, he's 3-0 with a 0.93 ERA and 17 strikeouts.