Mike Trout, Nelson Cruz, Robinson Cano. This should be a fun series if you’re looking for huge offensive performances, but which team will get enough pitching to come away victorious? The Seattle Mariners are at home where they’re a much better team, but the Los Angeles Angels are getting reinforcements back in their rotation and have battled through injuries to remain semi-competitive to this point. They’re coming off a series win against Baltimore.
This series will be contested from Thursday, August 10, 2017 through Sunday, August 13, 2017 at Safeco Field in Seattle.
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Pitching Matchups
This series gets kicked off with a bang as southpaws Tyler Skaggs and James Paxton make an interesting matchup of starters.
Skaggs is one of the reinforcements to this Angels rotation. He’s making just his second start coming off the DL. In his return, he allowed three runs over six innings against the A’s. The Mariners offer a more formidable lineup so Skagg must be better on Thursday.
Overall, he’s 1-2 with a 4.32 ERA in six starts this year and is still a high upside young arm despite making just 16 starts since 2014.
As for Paxton, he’s another high-upside arm that’s battled injury. He missed a few games this year, too, but has made 19 starts. He’s been an ace when on the mound, too. He’s 12-3 with a 2.70 ERA and 1.085 WHIP in his 113.1 innings. He’s been nearly unhittable since the start of July with seven starts, allowing two runs or fewer in each. He’s allowed two runs total in his last three games.
As the series progresses, J.C. Ramirez will be on the mound for Game 2 on Friday with Marco Gonzales making his Seattle debut following his acquisition from St. Louis opposite him.
Ramirez has been a huge surprise for the Angels and a major reason the team has been able to stay within shouting distance of the second wildcard spot in the AL. He did struggle in his last start, allowing the Orioles to scored six times. He also struggled against Seattle when he faced them in relief earlier this year.
Despite that, Ramirez has been generally reliable for the Angels. He’s 10-10 with a 4.21 ERA. He’s leading the team in innings with 136.2 and has been one of few reliable mainstays in the rotation since stepping into the role in April.
Gonzales steps into the Mariners’ rotation on Friday in place of Felix Hernandez who makes his way back on the DL.
King Felix has been a lesser version of himself this year, but he’s still been an above average arm when on the mound. Gonzales was a top prospect for the Cardinals a few years ago, but has sputtered in the last couple seasons.
Nevertheless, his Triple-A numbers on the season have been encouraging as he’s 8-4 with a 3.14 ERA. He’ll hope to continue that success in the big leagues.
On Saturday, the Mariners will send another new arm to the mound to the rubber—or better year, a new old arm.
Erasmo Ramirez is slated to start Saturday. Ramirez started his career in Seattle, pitching for the Mariners in parts of three seasons. Since his return, he’s gone 0-1 in two starts with a 7.56 ERA. He’ll try and bounce back. He was 4-3 with a 4.80 ERA mostly in relief with the Rays prior to the trade.
The transition back to the rotation has been a bit tricky and he’s not given the Mariners many innings so far.
Fortunately for the Mariners, Rick Nolasco hasn’t been great this year, meaning Saturday could turn into a high scoring affair. Nolasco is 5-12 with a 5.09 ERA in 23 starts. He’s also coming off yet another rough start. Despite that, he has had a history of success against the M’s, pitching to a 2.79 ERA in three starts against them this year.
This series will wrap on Sunday with Parker Bridwell and Ariel Miranda on the mound. Both pitchers were former Orioles farmhands that were sent packing for little return; and both have been much better than most of the arms Baltimore is sending to the hill in their place.
With so many injuries in both rotations, each pitcher has had a chance to show what they can do. Miranda leads the Mariners in innings with 131.2 and is 7-5 with a 4.65 ERA. Bridwell has just 11 games—including 10 starts—in the Majors, but he has been very impressive. He’s 6-1 with a 3.00 ERA in 66 innings.
Betting Trends
With a Wild Card berth within grasp and the end of the Major League leading playoff draught in sight, the Mariners have really taken the opportunity to heart. They’re 8-3 in their last 11 games and went 5-3 in a three-city road trip.
A return home will be a welcome sight for Seattle. The Mariners are 32-27 at home and a couple games under-.500 on the road, even after the strong road trip.
Of late, it’s been the Seattle offense leading the way. In their last 10 games, they’ve won all seven that they’ve scored at least five runs and lost the three they’ve scored less. That seems straight forward: score and win, but the magic numbers seems to be five, a bit higher than some other teams given the Mariners’ pitching woes.
On the other side of the field, the Angels won the last two games in a series against the Orioles to get back to within a game of .500.
Los Angeles had lost three straight prior to that and looked out of sorts during that mini losing streak.
The Angels are far from a perfect team, but they’re dangerous to play when you need wins like the Mariners certainly do.
Players to Watch
In Anaheim, it’s always all about Mike Trout. He’s a beast and having his best season to date, save the missed time. That’s a rather impressive statement, but a team is more than one player. That’s why the Angels—so far—have wasted Trout’s last few years.
Since the beginning of the month, however, Trout isn’t the only Angels bat that’s red hot. C.J. Cron is batting .385 since the break and delivered a huge homer for Los Angeles in Wednesday’s win against the Orioles.
For the Mariners, keep an eye on Yonder Alonso. The Mariners claimed him from the A’s and worked out a trade. He is taking at bats from Danny Valencia who is 8-for-19 in August and swinging well.
Alonso has had a big season, but he’s been struggling since the start of the second half. He’s only 2-for-9 in his first two games for the Mariners.
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