Mariners vs. Rays lineups: Seattle goes for sweep

Here’s the lineups for the Mariners’ game Wednesday afternoon against the Tampa Bay Rays at Safeco Field:

SEATTLE (20-13)

Norichika Aoki, LF

Ketel Marte, SS

Robinson Cano, 2B

Nelson Cruz, DH

Kyle Seager, 3B

Seth Smith, RF

Adam Lind, 1B

Chris Iannetta, C

Leonys Martin, CF

Starting pitcher: Right-hander Taijuan Walker (2-2, 1.97 ERA).

Notes: The Mariners go for the three-game sweep of the Rays in this one after beating Tampa Bay 5-2 on Monday and 6-4 last night. Seattle has also won 15 of its last 20 to zoom into first place in the AL West. The Mariners go with a full-strength lineup and hand the ball to Walker, who’s coming off a start in which he was removed after two innings because of spasms in his neck. Interestingly, I’ve been out to four Mariners games this season, and Walker has been Seattle’s starter in all four.

TAMPA BAY (15-16)

Brandon Guyer, LF

Brad Miller, SS

Evan Longoria, 3B

Corey Dickerson, DH

Steven Souza Jr., RF

Logan Morrison, 1B

Steve Pearce, 2B

Kevin Kiermaier, CF

Curt Casali, C

Starting pitcher: Right-hander Chris Archer (2-4, 4.23 ERA).

Notes: The Rays try to avoid the sweep behind ace Chris Archer, whose overall numbers may look pedestrian, but who has allowed just two runs and struck out 20 over his past three starts (18.2 innings). This series has seen a number of homecomings for Tampa Bay players, with former Cascade High School star Souza coming home, as well as the return of former Mariners Miller, Morrison and relief pitcher Erasmo Ramirez.