The Texas Rangers (32-50, 12-29 away) and Seattle Mariners (44-39, 25-16 home) continue their three-game weekend series with game two on Saturday night in Washington. Seattle took Friday’s matchup to improve to 6-2 against the Rangers this season.
Saturday night’s first pitch is slated for 10:10 p.m. EST at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, WA. Seattle is the betting favorite (-140), while the run total is pegged at 8.5 runs.
What to Know – Texas Rangers
The Rangers have one of the worst records in the major leagues but have played better over the last two weeks, going 6-4 over their last ten games. Even with the recent run of victories, the Rangers have dug themselves into a deep hole in the American League West standings. Texas is in the last place, 8.5 games behind their nearest competitor.
Right-hander Jordan Lyles (3-5, 5.12 ERA, 1.47 WHIP) is expected to make the start for the Rangers on the mound. Lyles saw his numbers improve in the month of June, sporting a 3.81 ERA over five starts. The 30-year-old was dominant in his last outing, throwing seven innings, surrendering one earned run, seven hits while striking out four in the victory.
Texas has a team batting average of .234 this season while averaging 4.1 runs per game. Adolis Garcia and Joey Gallo lead the Rangers with 20 home runs apiece. Garcia has knocked in a team-high 55 runs.
What to Know – Seattle Mariners
Seattle rolls into the holiday weekend on a three-game winning streak, including a pair won in extra innings. The Mariners are 7-3 over their last ten ball games and find themselves in third place in the AL West. Seattle has a chance to finish above .500 in the first half of the season for the first time since 2018.
The expected starter for the Mariners is Marco Gonzales (1-4, 5.10 ERA, 1.36 WHIP). Gonzales is trying to lock down his second win of the season and first since April after not throwing in the month of May. The 29-year old lefty fired 6.1 innings in his last start, allowing two earned runs on five hits and matching a season-high six strikeouts.
The Mariners are last in the AL with a .220 team batting average but score 4.4 runs per game. Only two players on Seattle’s roster have belted double-digit home runs this season, Mitch Haniger (18) and Kyle Seager (14). The two have combined to produce nearly 30% of Seattle’s run production, with 95 RBIs between the two.
Game Prediction
Texas has been a disaster on the road this season with a 12-29 record away from home this year. The Mariners have faced Lyles already this season, while it will be the Rangers’ first time seeing Gonzales on the mound.
This one will be close, with teams having success against the opposing pitchers. Seattle does enough against the Rangers bullpen to pull ahead and take this one in the later innings and push their record to 7-2 against Texas.
Prediction: Seattle Mariners ML
