Pregame notes, quotes and matchups for Thursday morning's game between the Mariners and Indians from Progressive Field in Cleveland.d
CLEVELAND — It’s 11:04 a.m. here at Progressive Field and the tarp is on the field. There is a steady, but relatively light rain falling right now. The forecast is for showers all day. The game could certainly be a delayed start. It’s not a heavy rain, but just an annoyance that they will likely play through.
“I don’t know if they’ll start it if it’s a light mist. It depends what is coming behind it, I’m sure,” manager Scott Servais. “The Indians know this area better than I do, so I’ll trust their opinion on this one.”
Here’s the hourly forecast from weather.com
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*** No major surprises in the lineup. Steve Clevenger gets the start on the day game after the night game. Seth Smith is back in the outfield for a second straight day.
“I guess he’s back to being 100 percent,” Servais said. “He got to the ball really good in the corner last night and played it well. Held the guys at second and third which was a big part of the game early. It turned out to be a huge play. He feels good. We’ll give (Nelson) Cruz another day at DH and go from there. I told you guys in spring training, there was no set number of games. You just kind of go day to day and see how guys are doing health-wise and what the matchups look like and go from there.”
Batter vs. pitcher matchups
Only one player has faced Indians starter Cody Anderson in a game. That would be Adam Lind. He had a decent game against him.
Indians numbers vs. right-hander Nathan Karns
On this day in Mariners history
- 1990 – Ken Griffey Jr. goes 3×5 with a home run and four RBI, but the Mariners lose 7-6 in 11 innings to the A’s.
- 1996 – Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez hit back-to-back home runs twice in a 9-5 win vs. Toronto
- 2001 – John Olerud hits his 7th career grand slam in a game against the Angels.
- 2002 – Ichiro Suzuki triples twice, tying a Mariners record, and scored both times in Seattle’s 5-3 win vs. Texas.
- 2010 – With the Mariners 4-1 win over Texas, David Aardsma becomes first player in Mariners history to start the season recording 6 saves in 6 appearances. Kaz Sasaki had 5 saves in his first 5 appearances back in 2001
- 2012 – Philip Humber of the Chicago White Sox threw the 21st perfect game in Major League history beating the Mariners 4-0 at Safeco Field. Humber retired all 27 batters he faced on only 96 pitches and struck out 9 batters. He retired Brendan Ryan on a check-swing to end the game.
- 2015 – Robinson Canó extended his hitting-streak to 8 games and drove in a pair of runs, but a 5-run 8th by Houston saw the Mariners lose 6-3 to the Astros…Carson Smith tossed a scoreless 7th inning, retiring all 3 batters he faced to set a club record for most consecutive appearances to open career without allowing a run.
Pitching probables
American League West Standings
Game notes