(My Sportsbook) - Jarrod Washburn tries for his third straight win to start the year this evening, when the Seattle Mariners open a three-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays at Safeco Field.

Since signing a lucrative free-agent deal with the Mariners before the start of the 2006 season, Washburn has lost 43 games and went through a dreadful 5-14 campaign a year ago. However, he has been magnificent through his first two starts this season, winning both of his outings while surrendering just two earned runs in 14 innings.

Washburn defeated the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim last Wednesday, as he allowed two runs and four hits in six innings. He had scattered five hits over eight scoreless innings to beat the Minnesota Twins in his season debut on April 9.

The 34-year-old left-hander should have no problem staying on track tonight, as he owns an impressive 11-3 lifetime mark against the Rays with a 2.60 earned run average in 16 starts.

Seattle, though, has sputtered of late after a hot start. Following a 101- loss season a year ago, the Mariners stormed out of the gates with wins in seven of their first eight games. The Mariners have dropped three of four since, though, with losses in the last two games of their three-game set with the Detroit Tigers over the weekend.

Tampa, meanwhile, has also hit the skids, losing four of its last five games. The Rays dropped three of four to the Chicago White Sox over the weekend, including a 12-2 loss in Sunday's finale at Tropicana Field.

To make matters worse, Rays center fielder B.J. Upton left the game with tightness in his right quadriceps. Upton, who missed the first six games of the year because of offseason shoulder surgery, is questionable for tonight's affair.

Heading to the hill for the Rays will be righty Andy Sonnanstine, who is 0-1 with a 6.52 ERA. After getting pounded by the Baltimore Orioles in his season debut, Sonnanstine settled down in his last start against the New York Yankees last Wednesday, surrendering a pair of runs and four hits in five innings. He did not get the decision, though, in his team's 4-3 loss that day.

Sonnanstine has faced the Mariners three times and is 1-1 with a 2.66 ERA against them .

Tampa won four of its seven matchups against the Mariners last season, including three of the four matchups at Safeco, where the Rays have won five of their last six games.