OAKLAND
http://www.chicagocubsteamshop.com/authentic-john-lackey-jersey , Calif. — Seattle Mariners right-hander Felix Hernandez will be seeking one of
the most important wins in his grand history against the Oakland Athletics on
Sunday afternoon when he pitched the finale of a four-game series between
American League playoff hopefuls.The third-place Mariners (76-60) gave their
hopes of overtaking the second-place A’s (81-56) a boost with a nail-biting, 8-7
victory Saturday night.Seattle will leave Oakland either a reasonable 3 1/2
games or a distant 5 1/2 games behind the A’s as they go head-to-head not just
for second in the West but perhaps most important for the second AL wild-card
berth.Article continues below ...The clubs also will meet three times in Seattle
in the final week of the season, magnifying the need for the Mariners to stay at
least within three games of the A’s.Hernandez (8-12, 5.49 ERA) hasn’t had his
best season, but the Mariners way more often than not have been in good hands
when the 14-year veteran has pitched in Oakland.Hernandez has faced the A’s 50
times in his career, starting on 49 of those occasions. He has gone 26-12 with a
2.71 ERA.The 26 wins are seven more than he has against any other team.The
32-year-old has been especially good in Oakland, where he’s 13-5 with a 2.89 ERA
in 26 games
Ben Zobrist Jersey , including 25 as a starter.Hernandez’s 13 wins in Oakland are the most by an A’s opponent in Oakland Coliseum history.He has faced
the A’s four times already this season and lost three of them, albeit by the
low-scoring counts of 2-1, 4-3 and 3-2. The latter two games were in
Oakland.Hernandez, the sixth-winningest active pitcher with 168 victories, will
be opposed by another member of the exclusive 100-win club, A’s right-hander
Edwin Jackson (4-3, 3.03)
http://www.chicagocubsteamshop.com/authentic-anthony-rizzo-jersey , who owns 102 career wins.The 34-year-old hasn’t faced Seattle since 2013, but he
dominated the Mariners when he did. Jackson has started four games in his career
against the Mariners and won all four, compiling a 1.26 ERA in the
process.Jackson has not gotten out of the fifth inning in either of his last two
starts — home against Texas and at Houston — allowing seven runs (six earned)
and 11 hits in nine innings.Neither team was particularly sharp in Saturday’s
game.The A’s lent a helping hand to the Mariners in a three-run third inning
when second baseman Jed Lowrie and Stephen Piscotty miscommunicated, allowing
Denard Span’s pop fly to drop.Oakland still had a chance to get a forceout at
second base on the play, but center fielder Ramon Laureano threw wildly to the
plate, allowing a run to score and setting up the other two runs.Kyle Seager put
the Mariners up 5-1 later in the inning with a single to right field on which
Lowrie dropped a relay throw, allowing Span to score after he had initially held
up at third.The A’s then caught a break in a four-run rally in the eighth when
Span
Kosuke Fukudome Jersey , playing left field, turned Marcus Semien’s two-run double into a three-run blow when he bobbled the ball.That got the A’s
within one and gave them a chance to tie the game with Semien at second base,
but Mariners closer Edwin Diaz struck out Matt Chapman to retain the 8-7 lead.
MIAMI (AP) — Marlins right-hander Jose Urena dropped his appeal of a six-game
suspension for intentionally hitting Atlanta rookie Ronald Acuna Jr. with a
pitch.Urena began serving the suspension Tuesday. The Marlins, fearful the
Braves might retaliate, had already decided Urena wouldn’t pitch against them
during a four-game series later this week.“It seems like there’s no reason to
open that back up,” manager Don Mattingly said. “We don’t need that.”Urena is
expected to return at Boston on Aug. 28.He hit Acuna on the left arm with his
first pitch, triggering a melee in the Marlins’ 5-2 loss in Atlanta last
Wednesday. Acuna went into the game having homered in five straight
games
http://www.chicagocubsteamshop.com/authentic-andre-dawson-jersey , including four homers in the three games against Miami — three of them leading
off.Acuna left the game injured but was back in the lineup the next day.Urena
was ejected. His next start came Sunday, when he pitched a two-hitter for his
first career complete game to beat Washington 12-1.
