Garrett Olson has never had much luck against Boston: in seven career starts against the Sox, the 25-year-old lefty is 0-5 with a 7.71 ERA. As a Baltimore Oriole between 2007 and 2008, Olson was frequently pitted against the boys from Beantown – and he always came up short.

In 2009, however, Olson was traded to the Marines after spending 10 days as a Chicago Cub. One might think the change of scenery would have been helpful to the young pitcher. But in his first start against the Sox in a Seattle uniform, Olson once again took on the Boston Red Sox and, much to his chagrin, once again failed. Olson gave up five runs off of four hits in six innings.

The pitcher would do well to approach Jason Varitek with extreme caution. The Sox catcher has gone deep three times against Olson, more than any other hitter. Somewhat shockingly, Jeff Bailey is tied for second on the list of Olson’s nemeses, having taken the left-hander deep twice in his five career plate appearances against the Seattle starter.

Saturday he’ll look to reverse his misfortune as he squares off against Brad Penny in a Fourth of July holiday matchup. Penny’s coming off of a tough 2-1 loss to Atlanta in which he pitched six innings of solid baseball and gave up two runs.

RED SOX VS. GARRETT OLSON

Dustin Pedroia (21 career plate appearances against Olson): .167 average/ .286 OBP/ .333 slugging, homer, 3 walks
Kevin Youkilis (17): .200/ .529/ .300, 7 walks, 3 strikeouts
Jason Varitek (16): .357/ .438/ 1.071, 3 homers, 2 walks
Julio Lugo (15): .429/ .467/ .500, walk, strikeout
David Ortiz (15): .231/ .333/ .538, homer, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts
Jacoby Ellsbury (13): .182/ .308/ .182, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts
J.D. Drew (11): .333/ .455/ .556, 2 walks, strikeout
Rocco Baldelli (6): 0-for-5, walk, 2 strikeouts
Jason Bay (6): 2-for-5, homer, walk
Jeff Bailey (5): 2-for-4, 2 homers, walk

MARINERS VS. BRAD PENNY

Ken Griffey Jr. (36 career plate appearances against Penny): .394 average/ .444 OBP/ .788 slugging, 3 homers, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts
Ronny Cedeno (8): 2-for-6, walk, 3 strikeouts
Miguel Batista (7): 0-for-7, 6 strikeouts
Ryan Langerhans (4): 2-for-4, strikeout
Russell Branyan (3): 0-for-1, 2 walks
Kenji Johjima (3): 1-for-3
Ichiro Suzuki (3): 1-for-2
Mike Sweeney (2): 1-for-2, strikeout
Chris Woodward (2): 1-for-2

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