The Seattle Mariners' offense has been in shambles for weeks, with no returning slugger on the horizon.
7:07 PM ET, July 19, 2011
Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario
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Bautista, the major-league leader with 31 homers, has missed the last three games with a twisted right ankle. He hit off a tee before Sunday's 7-2 loss to the New York Yankees, and Toronto (47-49) targeted Tuesday as a possible return date.
The Blue Jays beat the Yankees 7-1 on Friday without baseball's reigning home run king, but combined for three runs and nine hits while losing the last two games of the series.
"His absence in the lineup is a hole to fill," manager John Farrell said. "He's our leader, he's our most productive offensive player. That's a substantial loss when he's not in there."
Bautista should be itching to get back in the lineup to face the Mariners, considering he is batting .375 with four homers and 10 RBIs during an 11-game hitting streak against them.
The Blue Jays dropped two of three in Seattle in April, but have won five of the last six meetings with the Mariners in Toronto.
Seattle ranks last in the majors in both runs per game (3.19) and batting average (.221). No team has posted such a low average over a full season since 1972, when the Texas Rangers batted .217 during a 100-loss campaign.
The Mariners (43-52) have been even worse during their nine-game skid, plating 11 runs while batting .179 and failing to homer. They've hit two home runs in 14 games this month.
Bautista alone has seven homers in the 11 July games he has played.
Ichiro Suzuki is in the middle of the Mariners' slump, batting .114 in his last nine games, while cleanup hitter Miguel Olivo is hitting .182 with two RBIs in his last eight.
Seattle's nine-game losing streak -- its longest since dropping 12 in a row Sept. 11-22, 2008 -- has caused the club to fall 11 1/2 games behind AL West-leading Texas after being 2 1/2 games back July 5.
"It's been a tough stretch," manager Eric Wedge said after Sunday's 3-1 loss to the Rangers. "What has changed drastically is in the standings. That is a tough pill to swallow, no doubt about it."
Wedge gives the ball to All-Star rookie Michael Pineda (8-6, 3.03 ERA), who threw a perfect inning in last Tuesday's Midsummer Classic.
Pineda's last regular-season appearance was the worst of his career, as he permitted a career-high seven runs and six hits in five innings of a 9-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels on July 5.
Pineda's first career victory came against the Blue Jays on April 12, when he allowed two runs and five hits in 7 1/3 innings of a 3-2 win.
Toronto counters with Brett Cecil (2-4, 5.66), who entered the All-Star break on a high note after yielding one run in six innings of a 7-1 victory over Cleveland on July 10. It was the left-hander's first win in three starts since a two-month demotion to the minors.
Cecil limited the Mariners to two runs in 6 1/3 innings of a 3-2 victory May 19, 2010, his only previous start against them.
