Mariners Game Preview: Mariners Start Series in Cincinnati

Kuma will make his first career start against the Reds on Friday night for the Mariners.

The Seattle Mariners (23-17) carry their leauge leading road record into a three-game inter-league series against the Cincinnati Reds (15-26) on Friday night.  Hisashi Iwakuma (1-4, 4.38 ERA) will take the ball for the Mariners. Dan Straily (2-1, 3.05) will start  opposite him for the Reds. First pitch is scheduled for 4:10 PM PT.

This is the first career start against the Reds for Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma. In addition to that, no player on the Reds has ever seen a pitch from Kuma. Something that may work to the Mariners advantage.

For the large part, the Reds pitching staff has not been very good this year. Tonight’s starter, Dan Straily, may be an exception. After spending time with both the Cubs and the Astros last year, Straily may have found a home with the Reds. He has been consistent enough the season, posting a decent strike out rate and getting some help from the BABIP gods (.227 rate so far). His last start was a tough fought win against the Phillies, in which he needed 109 pitches to get through 5 scoreless innings.

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Overall, the Reds have struggled all season. They sit in last place in the NL Central and just got swept by the Cleveland Indians in a four-game series. Going back to the point about the pitching, Red pitching has been the biggest factor in their struggles this season. Posting an overall record of 8-13 (only the Twins have a worse record), they are averaging four walks a game and only striking out a little under seven per nine innings.

Here  are the starting lineups for this evening’s game, presented by Mariners manger Scott Servais and Reds’ skipper Brian Price:

The Mariners are sending out a normal, left-handed heavy lineup against Straily. Something to note, Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager are hitting a combined .359 with 36 RBI with 11 home runs in the month of May.

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You can watch tonight’s game locally on Root Sports Northwest, and MLB.tv subscribers can watch worldwide on connected devices. Fans can also listen to the game live on 710 ESPN. Follow SoDo Mojo on twitter for live updates throughout the game, and check back after the final out has been recorded for a full recap. Go Mariners!