Chicago Cubs vs. Seattle Mariners (10:10 pm ET, FSN)
Chicago Cubs and Seattle Mariners lock horns in Game 1 (10:10 pm ET, FSN) on Tuesday, at Safeco Field, Seattle, Washington. The Cubs have a 31-38 home, 13-20 away record whereas Mariners have 28-41 away, 18-17 away record.
In early August, Chicago was in first place in the NL, even though it stumbled down the stretch and missed the playoffs for the first time in three years.
While Bradley is hitting .215 after 49 games, he has left the Mariners (28-41) for two weeks to deal with personal and emotional issues. The Cubs (31-38) are in third place in the division and they have dropped 12 of 19. Seattle swept Cincinnati to push its winning streak to four games, even though Bradley went 0 for 11 over the weekend. Over those four games, the Mariners have allowed two runs and concluded their series against the Reds with a 1-0 win Sunday.
Chicago, in the last 19 games has scored three or fewer runs 10 times. For only the second time since May 25, it will be trying Tuesday to win back-to-back games.
For the Mariners, Jason Vargas (5-2 2.88 ERA) continues to pitch well and the Cubs will him. In 7 2/3 innings of a 2-1 win over the Cardinals on Wednesday, he gave up one run and five hits. In a game since April 9, Vargas has not allowed more than three earned runs. In three starts against the Cubs, the left-hander is 1-0 with a 4.74 ERA, but he has not faced them since 2007.
To Ryan Dempster (5-5, 3.67), the Cubs will hand the ball. On Wednesday, in 6 2/3 innings of a 6-2 win over the Athletics, he gave up two runs and struck out seven. In Dempster’s 14 starts, it was the fifth time that the Cubs have recorded a win.
