The Seattle Mariners host the Detroit Tigers on Friday night in the opening game of a three-game set at Safeco Field. The Tigers come to town in bad form, having lost eight of their last 11 games, while the Mariners have just six wins in their last 15.
With Oakland fading a little bit the Angels have nearly closed the gap. They are 7-3 in their last 10 and with a series coming up at Oakland after this one they have a chance to be in first place by the end of the week if they continue their strong play.
The Mariners will head south to Oakland on Monday to open a four-game series, which includes a doubleheader on Wednesday against the A’s, who have the second-best record in the American League.
On the season the Mariners have an Over/Under record of 13-11 and a run-line W/L record of 14-11 and the Yankees have an Over/Under record of 12-14 and a run-line W/L record of 13-13.
On the season the Mariners have an Over/Under record of 12-11 and a run-line W/L record of 13-11 and the Yankees have an Over/Under record of 11-14 and a run-line W/L record of 13-12.
The Rangers just swept Oakland and thus will be heading into Seattle in first place in the AL West with an AL leading 14 victories. Texas is red hot right now having won 8 of 9 starting with the final three of their last set with the Mariners.
Texas Rangers (14-8) vs. Seattle Mariners (8-13)
Friday April 25
Safeco Field – Seattle, WA
10:10PM
Probable Pitchers
TEX: Robbie Ross (L)
SEA: Roenis Elias (L)
Moneyline: Seattle -106, Texas -102
Total: 7.5
[dfads params=’groups=63740&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]
Other than Martin Perez’ current scoreless streak nothing is really standing out with the Rangers right now other than they are doing it without a number of key contributors. Jurickson Profar and Adrian Beltre are on the DL and Shin-Soo Choo is questionable for Friday.
Texas has been getting very good starting pitching and that includes the starts from Robbie Ross, who doesn’t look like he will be returning to the pen anytime soon.
Check out our in-house Handicapper!!! Click here to Buy Razor Ray’s MLB Baseball Picks Today!
Ross has a 2.31 ERA in the young season and a big reason are the 7 shutout innings he threw against the Mariners in his lone win on the season.
Only once in 4 starts has he given up more than 2ER and this time will take on Seattle in pitcher friendly Safeco.
[dfads params=’groups=10&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]
While Texas has been soaring the Mariners have been sinking.
They had lost 8 games in a row before ending their slide with a series closing win against Houston. If they had lost that one it would have been the Mariners not the Astros in last place. However, it is still relatively early and thankfully for Seattle their pitching has been solid.
It is the offense that is the problem. Robinson Cano is hitting below expectations at .280 and others are well off what you would expected. Kyle Seager is batting .179, ouch.
Rookie Roenis Elias has been better than expected this season.
He is giving up a few too many walks but is keeping the balling in the park and not giving up a ton of hits. His lone win on the season was against the Rangers in a game in which he gave up just one run over 6 innings.
It was the deepest he has gone in any start this season – he needs to start giving them some more innings or else they are going to burn out their bullpen.
Both of these starters have had success against their opponents recently. Since we are still writing the book on both I think we can expect a low scoring game. I see no reason to back the home side and given the way both teams are playing the value on Texas is better than expected.
It is the smart play.
Total prediction: Under
Score prediction: Texas 4 – Seattle 3
On the season the Mariners have an Over/Under record of 6-7 and a run-line W/L record of 8-5 and the Rangers have an Over/Under record of 5-9 and a run-line W/L record of 4-10.
This little AL West tilt has some intriguing individuals to investigate. Interestingly, the intrigue includes others than just Seattle free-agent investment Robbie Cano.
After a dreadful start to the season the Angels got back on track by taking 3 of 4 against Houston. The problem is that poor start was against these same Mariners and now they are on the road against the Ms.
The Mariners will kick off their 2014 season with a trip to sunny southern California to take on AL West division foe the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Monday night at the Big A.
The Angels are struggling to get going in April. They let some key players go over the offseason and the replacements aren’t doing much.
Thursday April 25
Safeco Field – Seattle, WA
10:10
Probable Starters:
LAA: Garrett Richards (R)
SEA: Brandon Maurer (R)
Moneyline: Los Angeles -135, Seattle +125 at Bovada
O/U: 8
ATS Matchup Stats | Gambling Insight!
Check out our in-house Handicapper!!! Buy Razor Ray’s MLB Picks Today!
They focused on offense in bringing in Josh Hamilton from Texas and that move hasn’t really borne much fruit.
They also elected to go with a new cast of starting pitchers at the back end of the rotation and even though it is not all their fault the team ERA is the second worst in the league. Slow start or long term indicator? We will have to wait to see.
L.A. starter Garrett Richards has been kicking around as a prospect with the Angels for a while but it looks like he might be finally getting a chance. He started the season in the pen but he has made two starts now, including a very sharp outing in shutting out Detroit in which he yielded just 2 hits over 7 innings.
The Angels have a pretty good track record grooming Major League pitching so it may finally be his time.
The American League West is going to be a tough division. But it is going to be especially tough if the Mariners don’t figure out a way to beat the Astros. After yesterday’s loss they are 2-4 against Houston, contributing to their 6-11 record against division foes so far.
They can try and improve on that this weekend as they host the Angels, a team that is having some struggles of their own as well. [dfads params=’groups=10&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]
Mariners starter Brandon Maurer is getting his first taste of the Majors this season. His first two outings were forgettable as the A’s and Astros feasted on him but he has dealt quality starts his last two times out, both against Texas.
He is not great but don’t be completely fooled by that 7+ ERA. Giving up 6ER in 2/3 of an inning will kill your numbers this early in the season.. He is not as highly touted as Richards though.
L.A. is the better value play as a medium favourite in this one. They are the better team on the whole with the better arm on the mound. Seattle is one of the more frustrating teams to try and figure out and when King Felix is not on the mound it is probably best to stay away.
If you win early maybe put a small play on the Angels.
O/U Pick: Over
Score Prediction: Los Angeles 6 – Seattle 5
Detroit is sitting at the top of a bunchy American League Central right now.
They won the opener of their series against Seattle last night pushing their road record to over .500 for the season.
The Seattle Mariners have struggled the last few years just to field a competitive team. They have two 100+ loss seasons in the last three years and going into 2013 it is difficult to see how this team improved in the offseason.
2012 Toronto vs Seattle Betting Predictions
Trade deadline day is always an interesting one, especially for a team like the Jays which is hard to read. Mathematically they are in the hunt but will they mortgage even a hint of their bright future, especially given how injury stricken this team has been.
The Mariners used 6 pitchers to no hit the Dodgers on Friday night. Whats in store for Saturday?
With their solid play lately the Angels, who are 8-2 in their last 10 games, have moved into 3rd place in the AL West and they only trail the Rangers by 4.5 games.
