baseball

Padres visit the Mariners to open 3-game series

By The Associated PressYahoo Sports

San Diego Padres (25-18, second in the NL West) vs. Seattle Mariners (22-23, second in the AL West) Seattle; Friday, 9:40 p. m.

EDT PITCHING PROBABLES: Padres: Randy Vasquez (4-1, 3. 05 ERA, 1. 17 WHIP, 42 strikeouts); Mariners: Emerson Hancock (3-1, 3.

21 ERA, 1. 01 WHIP, 50 strikeouts) LINE: Mariners -140, Padres +118; over/under is 7 1/2 runs BOTTOM LINE: The Seattle Mariners host the San Diego Padres on Friday to start a three-game series. Seattle is 12-11 in home games and 22-23 overall.

The Mariners have a 16-4 record in games when they scored five or more runs. San Diego is 25-18 overall and 12-8 in road games. The Padres have gone 9-3 in games when they hit two or more home runs.

The matchup Friday is the fourth time these teams square off this season. TOP PERFORMERS: Luke Raley leads the Mariners with 10 home runs while slugging . 589.