Luke Weaver’s best start of the season came last month against the Philadelphia Phillies. Weaver will try to emulate that success Tuesday night as the Phillies face the St. Louis Cardinals in the middle of a three-game series at Citizens Bank Park.

The 24-year-old Weaver (4-6 Y.A. Tittle Jersey , 4.52 ERA) allowed just one run and four hits and notched six strikeouts in seven innings against the Phillies on May 17. Weaver has gone seven innings in just one of his 13 other starts this season.

Weaver, who has a 3.00 ERA and 1.167 WHIP in two career starts against Philadelphia, struggled in both of his last two appearances. He allowed eight runs, 16 hits and six walks in the two outings (10 1/3 innings), including four runs and nine hits in 5 1/3 innings of his last game against the San Diego Padres.

“He used everything. Thought he had a real nice changeup, he was smart with the breaking ball,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of Weaver after his last start. “But that last inning, there were a lot of hard hit balls.”

Weaver has lost four straight decisions, a streak that dates to his previous start against the Phillies.

Vince Velasquez, who will oppose Weaver again on Tuesday Tyrell Williams Jersey , picked up the win in that game last month.

Velasquez (5-7, 4.74) held the Cardinals scoreless for 6 1/3 innings and struck out five in a 6-2 Phillies win. He had a 6.30 ERA in four starts after that game, but the hard-throwing right-hander was dominant the last time he was on the mound.

Facing the Colorado Rockies last Thursday, Velasquez carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning. He gave up just one hit and two runs before exiting after 6 2/3 innings and 105 pitches.

“I thought that was as confident as I’ve ever seen him,” Phillies manager Gabe Kapler told MLB.com about Velasquez. “But most notably for me was how comfortable he looked in his own skin today. It was a breath of fresh air, and I think when things aren’t going that smoothly for him, if he can maintain that composure, maintain that easiness and maintain that confidence, that’s when he’s going to reach his true potential.”

Velasquez is 1-1 with a 3.65 ERA and 1.297 WHIP in two career starts against St. Louis.

The Phillies are going for their fourth straight win after getting an unlikely walk-off victory in the 10th inning Monday night. Aaron Altherr hit a game-winning, two-run double that bounced past a diving Marcell Ozuna in left field.

Philadelphia’s 6-5 win came after its bullpen gave up two runs with two outs in the ninth inning and the go-ahead run on a Tommy Pham homer in the 10th.

“They came back in the ninth against us William Hayes Jersey , but we still thought we could win this game,” Altherr told NBC Sports Philadelphia after his heroics. “It shows how resilient this team is. We never give up and always fight.”

The Cardinals, meanwhile, have dropped six of their last eight games.
Just who was that guy sitting on the Seattle Mariners bench, the odd fellow with the bushy mustache, shades and a hoodie?

Wait a second – it was Ichiro!

Now a team executive, Ichiro Suzuki donned a Bobby Valentine-style disguise and sneaked into the Seattle dugout Thursday to watch a bit of the action at Yankee Stadium.

Exactly as he hinted, in fact.

”He was perfect. I never would have known it was him,” Valentine texted to The Associated Press.

Officially, Suzuki isn’t allowed to be in the dugout during games under Major League Baseball rules. The 44-year-old outfielder with 3 Julian Edelman Jersey ,089 career hits came off the Seattle roster in early May and moved into the team’s front office as a special assistant to the chairman.

Suzuki has been taking part in pregame drills and batting practice in a role similar to a coach. But he’s required to leave the bench when games begin, and that’s when he takes his place in the clubhouse – usually, anyway.

This time, in a ballpark where he played for parts of three seasons, Suzuki got a much closer look.

AP photographer Bill Kostroun spotted Suzuki with his face nearly covered by a fake mustache, sunglasses and a gray hoodie drawn tight over his head during in the first inning as the Yankees hit a pair of two-run homers.

Suzuki sat in the middle of the dugout, in the back row, in his shorts and occasionally crouched down while the Yankees swung away. He was gone by the second inning of Seattle’s 4-3 loss that completed a New York sweep.

The 10-time All-Star hasn’t officially retired, and there’s speculation the Japanese great might play when the Mariners open the 2019 season in Tokyo with a two-game series against Oakland.

This was Seattle’s only trip to Yankee Stadium this year, and maybe Suzuki wanted a final look at the ballpark. Or perhaps he was just showing off his playful side.

On the day it was announced Suzuki was moving into his new position John Randle Jersey , he predicted this might happen.

”During the game I will be doing the same preparations I’ve been doing the entire time. Nothing is going to change for me that I did as a player,” Suzuki said at the time. ”But I can’t say for certain that maybe I won’t put on a beard and glasses and be like Bobby Valentine and be in the dugout.”

In 1999, the excitable Valentine was ejected from a game he was managing for the New York Mets. He was tossed in the 12th inning, but soon put on a fake mustache and sunglasses and returned to the dugout in disguise.

Valentine was later suspended for two games and fined $5,000.

The longtime manager liked Suzuki’s creativity.

”One of the biggest honors of my life,” Valentine said. ”I was going to send him a set, but he didn’t need it.”

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AP Baseball Writer Janie McCauley contributed to this report.

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