Game Thread: 06/14 Padres @ Mariners

With a series win under their belts, our Padres will go for their first sweep of the season tonight against the hated Mariners. Erasmo Ramirez will toe the rubber for Seattle in his starting debut. Ramirez started the year as a reliever for the Mariners before he was sent down to their Triple-A affiliate in Tacoma to stretch out his arm and ready himself to join the rotation. In 11 innings as a big league reliever this season, he has given up just three runs. He made seven starts in Tacoma, earning himself a 3-2 record and a 3.11 ERA, and his last start was likely the reason he was called back up to the majors. He threw a 7.2-inning no-hitter on June 8th against Salt Lake City. The Mariners are hoping that his success will carry over to the major league level and they can salvage a win tonight.

Edinson Volquez will try to keep that from happening, however, and deliver a sweep for our Padres. Volquez is coming off a rough outing in which he gave up six runs (a season high) in five innings against St. Louis. He is only 2-6 on the season, but that is not all the result of poor pitching. He has been a relatively strong pitcher for our Padres since he joined the team, but has been plagued by lousy run support. He averages just over two runs of support per start, which is the lowest in the league. Hopefully his luck will turn around tonight.

Chase Headley is riding a ten-game hitting streak, Everth Cabrera has been kicking butt, and Yonder Alonso has proven to be one of the most productive rookies in all of the majors this season. If our offense can continue to do what they've been successful at this series, which is to score just enough runs for the win, I think we will be looking at a couple of season firsts and a happy flight to Oakland tonight.

#Padres lineup vs. #Mariners: Venable 8, Cabrera 6, Headley 5, Quentin 0, Alonso 3, Denorfia 9, Guzman 7, Baker 2, Forsythe 4.

— Follow The Padres (@FollowThePadres) June 14, 2012

GO FRIARS!! KEEP THE FAITH!!