The Mariners are surging as of late but still have a lot of work to do to get back in the AL West race.
Texas has had a season to forget, as they are in the basement of the AL West and are tied for the second-fewest wins in the Majors.They have had little luck against the Mariners, and they lost the first three games of this series. Looking at the stats it is not surprising Texas is well under .500 since they don’t rank in the top 25 in the bigs in runs scored or team ERA.
The Mariners have been winning as of late and have had the Rangers number in their last several games facing them. However, they are still under .500 and several games out of first place in the AL West. While the club does not rank in the top 25 in baseball in team ERA their pitching is the reason for their recent surge.
Seattle is riding a five-game win streak while the Rangers have lost five in a row.
Allard Looks for Some Payback
Kolby Allard (0-0 5.40 ERA) is still looking for his first win of the season and looks for some payback against the Mariners. In his worst start of the season on August 22 he faced the Mariners and failed to get out of the first inning after giving up four runs in a 7-4 Texas loss. In that outing and his next one he gave up 10 runs in only three 2/3 innings and while he gave up only three runs in 12 1/3 innings in his next two starts the Rangers lost both where they only scored a total of two runs.
Joey Gallo leads the Rangers in HR and RBI but is hitting under .180 and has one RBI and no HR in a recent five-game stretch. Elvis Andrus is batting under .190 on the season and the team recently traded away Todd Frazier so it is looking like Texas is throwing up the white flag for the season looking forward to next season.
Do It Again Marco
Marco Gonzales(4-2 3.09 ERA) gets the nod for the M’s on Monday and he is coming off his best start of the season. In that start, he had a complete game and gave up one run on four hits in a 2-1 win over the L.A. Angels. The Mariners have won four of his last six starts, including his last two, and in his lone start against Texas this season he did not fare well giving up four runs in five 1/3 innings in a 4-2 Seattle loss.
Kyle Lewis leads the Mariners in HR and batting average and he has been str as of late with two hits in his last 1`5 at-bats.
Kyle Seager leads the club in RBI, and he has gone for no RBI in a recent six-game stretch. Each went yard in the 4-3 Mariners win in the third game of this series.
Seattle could use a win in this game, as they embark on a five-game road trip after this series and they have not played well outside of the Great Northwest this season.
Notable Trends
The Seattle Mariners are:
- 5-0 in their last 5 games
- 5-2 in their last 7 games as a favorite
- 15-6 in their last 21 games as a home favorite
The Texas Rangers are:
- 0-5 in their last five games
- 19-42 in their last 61 road games
- 11-28 in their last 39 games as an underdog
- 2-6 in their last 8 games vs. a left-handed starter
