Seattle’s mindset – angry or demoralized – should dictate the outcome in the June 8th Mariners at Royals betting matchup after the M’s couldn’t sustain an 8-0 lead in the 4th inning and ultimately falling 10-9 in Friday night’s series opener as slight -120 favorites.
Kansas City could be a popular play in game two as a +116 underdog (SEA -136) after erasing the 8-run deficit on Friday night. The Royals have had an up-and-down couple weeks, but huge comeback wins tend to give a team momentum even though 70% of the betting public are backing the Mariners to even up the series on Saturday afternoon.
Why the Mariners Have Value on Saturday
How much different would we be looking at game two of this series if Seattle could’ve held on to a 7-0 lead after the top of the first inning? The Mariners got complacent after that huge lead – something you’d think they wouldn’t do on Saturday after such an embarrassing defeat.
It’s very possible that the 10-9 loss on Friday was the eye opener that snapped the Mariners back to reality. They had won 9 of 11 games prior, and have built up a 5 game lead over the Rangers in the AL West and can easily win game two against a Royals team that is 4-7 over the last 11 on their schedule.
Usually when you give up a 7-run lead your bullpen takes a lot of the blame, but it was actually Seattle starter Bryce Miller was left in a little too long in giving up 7 ER over 5.0 IP. Luis Castillo (5-6, 2.99 ERA) is obviously looking for a better performance when he takes the hill Saturday coming off 0ER allowed over 7.0 IP in Sunday’s win over the Angels. Castillo has now allowed 2 ER or less in 10 straight starts – in a somewhat under the radar manner.
Why the Royals Have Value on Saturday
Any time a team gives up a 7-run lead like the Mariners did on Friday night you can take two routes – a) either Seattle is angry about the loss or b) now the Royals have momentum in knowing they can beat this team no matter the circumstances.
Whether Kansas City has momentum or not is a relative term, but one thing they knowingly do have is Bobby Witt, Jr. He plays in a smaller market, but this dude could be that dude as his .323 average is 3rd best in MLB and his 47 RBI are the 6th most. Witt was 3-5 on Friday night – the third time he’s had 3 hits in his last six games.
Kansas City starter Alec Marsh (4-3, 3.76 ERA) needs a bounce back in this spot, as he’s given up 10 ER in his last two starts over 12.0 IP. That’s obviously two consecutive Royals losses, but Marsh just needs to avoid the big inning and he did allow just 1 ER over 5.0 IP in a May 15th start in Seattle that K.C. lost 4-2 as +126 underdogs.
Free June 8th Mariners at Royals Betting Preview
K.C. had a nice comeback win on Friday night, but they should enjoy it while they can as Seattle is about to take game two. Castillo is dialed in for Seattle and Marsh has been getting tagged pretty good lately.
Free Pick: Mariners -1.5
