Mariners turn to Millwood vs. Blue Jays
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Veteran right-hander Kevin Millwood faces the Toronto Blue Jays for the 14th time in his 451st start Wednesday when the Seattle Mariners visit them for game two of a three-game series at Rogers Centre.
The North Carolina native, who'll turn 38 in December, has won just twice in 10 career decisions against the Blue Jays while posting a 4.83 earned run average across 78 1/3 innings of work - allowing a .274 batting average.
He last faced Toronto in his fourth start of 2012 on April 28, when he allowed a single earned run in seven innings while surrendering seven hits, walking two batters and striking out four in a 7-0 loss.
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The loss was the second in a four-start losing skid in what evolved as an uneven season for Millwood, who then won three straight, lost four, won one, lost four more and was a 2-1 winner over Boston in his most recent outing on Sept. 5.
In that game, he allowed four hits and a run in six innings.
Millwood won four games in each of the last two seasons and last reached double digits in 2009, when he went 13-10 in 31 starts with Texas.
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The Blue Jays oppose him with skidding lefty Ricky Romero, who turned nine years old in 1993 - the year Millwood was drafted by the Atlanta Braves.
A 15-game winner in 32 starts last season, Romero was 8-1 this year after a 12-5 win at Miami on June 22, but has since dropped a remarkable 12 straight decisions across 13 starts in which Toronto is 1-12.
He lasted just one inning in his most recent outing on Sept. 2 against Tampa Bay and was shellacked for seven runs on eight hits and a walk in the Rays' 9-4 win in Toronto.
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Romero's earned run average has swelled from 4.34 after the win in Miami to 5.85 after the loss to Tampa Bay.
He's 1-2 in seven career starts against the Mariners, including a 4-1 loss after six innings of eight-hit ball on July 30.
On Tuesday, Erasmo Ramirez worked seven effective innings and the Mariners snuck past the Blue Jays, 4-3.
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Ramirez (1-2) allowed two runs on six hits and a walk with six strikeouts to snap a string of three consecutive no-decisions. Tom Wilhelmsen collected his 25th save of the season with a scoreless ninth inning.
"(Ramirez) pitched a fantastic ball game tonight," Seattle manager Eric Wedge said. "That's a good hitting ball club over there and Erasmo did a great job."
Kyle Seager went 3-for-5 with a key solo home run and an RBI single, while Michael Saunders added an RBI single among his two hits for the Mariners, who snapped a three-game skid.
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Colby Rasmus, Moises Sierra and Yunel Escobar drove in runs for the Blue Jays, who had their four-game winning streak snapped.
Brandon Morrow (8-6) was tagged for four runs on 11 hits and a walk over 4 2/3 innings.
"They were just attacking early and did a good job of putting the bat on the ball," Morrow said. "The whole time I just kind of felt out of sync with my body."
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The Mariners won four of the first six games between the teams in 2012, while the Blue Jays won the 2011 season series, six games to three.