Veteran right-hander Kevin Millwood faces the Toronto Blue Jays for the 14th time in his 451st start Wednesday when the Seattle Mariners visit them for game two of a three-game series at Rogers Centre.
The North Carolina native, who'll turn 38 in December, has won just twice in 10 career decisions against the Blue Jays while posting a 4.83 earned run average across 78 1/3 innings of work - allowing a .274 batting average.
He last faced Toronto in his fourth start of 2012 on April 28, when he allowed a single earned run in seven innings while surrendering seven hits, walking two batters and striking out four in a 7-0 loss.
The loss was the second in a four-start losing skid in what evolved as an uneven season for Millwood, who then won three straight, lost four, won one, lost four more and was a 2-1 winner over Boston in his most recent outing on Sept. 5.
In that game, he allowed four hits and a run in six innings.
Millwood won four games in each of the last two seasons and last reached double digits in 2009, when he went 13-10 in 31 starts with Texas.
The Blue Jays oppose him with skidding lefty Ricky Romero, who turned nine years old in 1993 - the year Millwood was drafted by the Atlanta Braves.
A 15-game winner in 32 starts last season, Romero was 8-1 this year after a 12-5 win at Miami on June 22, but has since dropped a remarkable 12 straight decisions across 13 starts in which Toronto is 1-12.
He lasted just one inning in his most recent outing on Sept. 2 against Tampa Bay and was shellacked for seven runs on eight hits and a walk in the Rays' 9-4 win in Toronto.
Romero's earned run average has swelled from 4.34 after the win in Miami to 5.85 after the loss to Tampa Bay.
He's 1-2 in seven career starts against the Mariners, including a 4-1 loss after six innings of eight-hit ball on July 30.
On Tuesday, Erasmo Ramirez worked seven effective innings and the Mariners snuck past the Blue Jays, 4-3.
Ramirez (1-2) allowed two runs on six hits and a walk with six strikeouts to snap a string of three consecutive no-decisions. Tom Wilhelmsen collected his 25th save of the season with a scoreless ninth inning.
"(Ramirez) pitched a fantastic ball game tonight," Seattle manager Eric Wedge said. "That's a good hitting ball club over there and Erasmo did a great job."
Kyle Seager went 3-for-5 with a key solo home run and an RBI single, while Michael Saunders added an RBI single among his two hits for the Mariners, who snapped a three-game skid.
Colby Rasmus, Moises Sierra and Yunel Escobar drove in runs for the Blue Jays, who had their four-game winning streak snapped.
Brandon Morrow (8-6) was tagged for four runs on 11 hits and a walk over 4 2/3 innings.
"They were just attacking early and did a good job of putting the bat on the ball," Morrow said. "The whole time I just kind of felt out of sync with my body."
The Mariners won four of the first six games between the teams in 2012, while the Blue Jays won the 2011 season series, six games to three.
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