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Seattle Mariners

Mariners pregame: M’s sport No. 42 for Jackie Robinson Day; lineups and starter matchup

Seattle Mariners starting pitcher James Paxton throws against the Houston Astros in the first inning of a baseball game, Monday, April 10, 2017, in Seattle. (Elaine Thompson / Associated Press)
By Whitney Ogden whitneyo@spokesman.com(509) 481-1067

The Seattle Mariners face the Texas Rangers on Saturday evening for Jackie Robinson Day.

Lefty James Paxton will take the mound for the Mariners in Seattle’s second game of a third-game series against the Rangers. Paxton has thrown back-to-back scoreless starts to start the season. on April 5, Paxton allowed zero runs from the Houston Astros in six innings. Five days later, Paxton denied Houston any runs again in seven innings when the M’s hosted the Astros in Seattle.

If Paxton can start Saturday’s game with six scoreless innings, Paxton will become the 10th pitcher in the MLB since 1900 to begin a season with three consecutive starts of six or more scoreless innings.

Paxton and all other on-field personnel will wear No. 42 in honor of Robinson, who broke through the baseball color barrier on April 15, 1947 when he appeared in a game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Braves.

Robinson’s number was retired by the MLB in 1999. Before that year, the Mariners had 12 players who wore the number, including Omar Vizquel, Vance Lovelace and Ted Power.

Lineups and starter matchup

Game 11: Seattle Mariners (3-8) vs. Texas Rangers (4-5), 6:10 p.m., Safeco Field

(Courtesy @MarinersPR)
(Courtesy @MarinersPR)

Starters: LHP James Paxton (1-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Andrew Cashner (—-)

Mariners Notes

  • Seattle shortstops have combined for .340 batting percentage, with four doubles, two home runs and five RBIs. Jean Segura hit .313, including one home and three RBIs. Taylor Motter has hit .400 since taking over for Segura, who left Seattle’s home opener on April 10 with a strained right hamstring.
  • Outfielder Jarrod Dyson has been successful in his last 15 stolen bases. Dyson currently has an 85.6 percent (179 of 209) success rate in his career stolen bases. He sits behind Carlos Beltran (86.4 percent, 312 of 361) for the best success rate in baseball history (with at least 200 stolen base attempts).
  • Kyle Seager has had 56 RBIs against the Texas Rangers since 2013, the second-most RBIs by an MLB player against one opponent.
  • Mitch Haniger extended his hitting streak to eight games on Friday in Seattle’s series opener against the Rangers. He has hit .344 in the streak, including two doubles and three home runs, and has scored eight times.

This Day in Mariners History

In 2009, Ken Griffey Jr. hit his first home run in Safeco Field since returning to the Mariners. It was his 400th homer as a Mariner. Griffey became the only player in MLB history to record at least 400 home runs with one team and 200 or more with another team (Cincinnati Reds).