Baltimore Orioles (36-47) at Seattle Mariners (43-39), 10:10 p.m.
Sports Network | July 7, 2009
(Sports Network) -- Erik Bedard will come off the disabled list in time to face his former team, as the Seattle Mariners hurler is set to return for tonight's clash with the Baltimore Orioles at Safeco Field.
Bedard, a 15-game winner for the Orioles in 2006 who went 13-5 in 28 starts the following season, was traded by Baltimore to the Mariners in February of 2008 in exchange for five players, including All-Star center fielder Adam Jones and steady closer George Sherrill. The talented left-hander proceeded to have a disappointing first year in Seattle, winning just six games and making only 15 starts before undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery in July.
The 30-year-old has missed some time with a sore shoulder this year as well, but he's been quite good when healthy. Bedard has gone 5-2 with an excellent 2.47 earned run average in 11 starts this season and won three consecutive outings before landing on disabled list on June 8.
Bedard has yielded just five runs in 18 innings during his winning streak, which he extended by limiting Minnesota to two runs and four hits over five frames at Safeco Field on June 7.
Prior to that start, the native Canadian pitched against the Orioles for the first time since the trade and dealt his ex-mates a loss. In that game, held in Seattle on June 2, Bedard allowed just one run on four hits and struck out seven batters in 6 1/3 innings of work.
He'll have a tough act to follow in his return to the mound, as teammate Jarrod Washburn delivered a brilliant performance in leading the Mariners to a 5-0 win in Monday's opener of this three-game set.
Washburn (5-6) gave up only one hit, a fourth-inning single to Nick Markakis, and did not walk a batter in registering his fourth career shutout and first since 2007. The veteran lefty threw 75 of his 110 pitches for strikes.
"He had command of all his pitches and he looked fresh all the way to the end," Seattle manager Don Wakamatsu said of Washburn. "That's as good as I've seen him and he just keeps getting better. This guy has pitched some big games without a lot of run support. He didn't need it tonight."
Washburn did get help via a two-run double from Chris Woodward and a solo homer from Russell Branyan. Franklin Gutierrez added three hits and scored a run for the Mariners, who have won four of their last five games and trail the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim by 3 1/2 games for first place in the American League West.
Orioles starter Brad Bergesen (5-3) pitched six innings in Monday's setback and was reached for four runs (3 earned) while walking four batters.
The loss was the third in a row for Baltimore, which will send out Jeremy Guthrie to oppose Bedard.
Guthrie enters this evening's matchup off a road loss to the Angels on Thursday in which he was tagged for five runs and a pair of homers over seven innings. The right-hander had won his previous two starts, but is only 6-8 with a subpar 5.20 ERA in 17 starts this season.
The 30-year-old has particularly struggled on the road, where Guthrie has gone 2-4 in seven starts and pitched to a 6.86 ERA. He's served up a whopping 11 homers in 39 1/3 innings over that span.
Guthrie is 2-3 with a 3.63 ERA in six career starts against Seattle and was handed a home loss by the Mariners on June 10. He allowed four runs (3 earned) on six hits, two of which were homers by second baseman Jose Lopez, through six innings in that 4-1 defeat.
Seattle has won five of seven meetings with the Orioles so far in 2009 and took two of three from Baltimore in Safeco Field last month.
