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Seattle Mariners

Mariners Pregame: Yonder Alonso makes M’s debut, lineups and starters against Athletics

Yonder Alonso, left, is high-fived by Oakland Athletics teammates after scoring against the Chicago White Sox on July 5, 2017, in Oakland, Calif. Alonso makes his Seattle Mariners’ debut against his former team on Tuesday. (Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)
By Dave Nichols daven@spokesman.com(509) 459-5441

Game 114: Seattle Mariners (57-56) at Oakland Athletics (50-62) at 7:05 p.m. at Oakland Coliseum.

The Mariners split a doubleheader against the Kansas City Royals on Sunday and were off on Monday. Seattle is 6-4 in its last 10 games and 25-29 on the road this season.

The M’s are 15 games behind the Houston Astros in second place in the A.L. West and one game behind Kansas City and Tampa Bay for the second wildcard spot in the A.L.

The Athletics are last in the division (21.5 games back), 6-4 in their last 10 games and 31-25 at hoem this season.

Transaction: Right-hander Ernesto Frieri was sold by the Texas Rangers to the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday for $1.

Signed by the Rangers as a minor league free agent on June 15, the 32-year-old was 0-1 with a 5.14 ERA in six relief appearances for Texas. He was assigned outright to Round Rock on July 7 and went 0-1 with a 1.42 ERA in seven relief outings for the Triple-A club.

Injury updates: The Mariners issued medical updates on pitchers Felix Hernandez and David Phelps via press release.

Hernandez was diagnosed with bursitis in his right shoulder. He is expected to miss three-to-four weeks.Phelps was diagnosed with an impingement in his right elbow. He is expected to miss two-to-three weeks.

Lineups and starters

Courtesy @MarinersPR
Courtesy @MarinersPR

Starters: LHP Ariel Miranda (7-5, 4.41) vs. RHP Kendall Graveman (2-3, 4.96)

Mariners Notes

  • When he makes his first appearance, Yonder Alonso will become the 53rd player used by the Mariners this season. 53 players is the most of any club in MLB this season. The Mariners are one player shy of matching the club record for most players used in a season (54, 2016).
  • 3B Kyle Seager homered off KC LH Danny Duffy on Sunday. Seager now has 29 homers off left-handed pitching since the start of the 2015 season, leading MLB for left-on-left home runs, three ahead of teammate Robinson Canó, who has 24 (tied with Anthony Rizzo, CHI).
  • DH Nelson Cruz also homered off Duffy on Sunday. Cruz has 39 HR against LHPs since the start of 2015, the most in MLB.
  • Seattle allowed five home runs in its doubleheader on Sunday, and the Seattle staff has now given up a total of 172 homers, the most in the American League and second-most in MLB behind Cincinnati at 183. Seattle starters have allowed 118 of the homers, also tops in the A.L.
  • Canó needs just three more home runs to reach 300 career homers. When he reaches 300 he’ll be just the third active player in the Majors with 300 HR, 500 doubles, 1,000 RBI and a career .300 average, joining Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera in the exclusive club. Canó will be just the 16th player in MLB history to do it, with one of the other 15 being Seattle hitting coach Edgar Martinez. Of the other 15 players, nine are in the Hall of Fame, two are active, and two are not yet eligible for the Hall.

This Day in Mariners History

In 2000, the Mariners hammered two grand slams in first game of a doubleheader – by Jay Buhner and Edgar Martinez – and their third in two days, tying an MLB record, in a 12-4 win over the Chicago White Sox. Alex Rodriguez homered in both games of the doubleheader sweep.