2020-08-23 16:10:00 EDT
The Texas Rangers and the Seattle Mariners meet Sunday in MLB action from T-Mobile Park.
This will be the third and final installment of the weekend series featuring this matchup. In the opener on Friday, the Mariners posted a 7-4 victory. On Saturday, Seattle kept it going, scoring eight runs in the first three innings on the way to a dominant 10-1 win. Check back all season long for free MLB picks and MLB predictions at Sports Chat Place.
The Rangers were out-hit 15-8 in the Saturday loss, and couldn’t do anything of value offensively for the most part. Jose Trevino and Nick Solak each notched two hits. The loss went to starting pitcher Jordan Lyles, who had a bad night on 4.0 innings, 11 hits and eight earned runs.
For the Sunday starting role, the Rangers are sending out Mike Minor. Across his five starts this year, Minor has a 0-4 record with a 6.94 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 23.1 innings. In his MLB career, Minor is 70-64 with a 3.97 ERA and 1011 Ks in 1119.0 innings.
Over on the Mariners’ side, they started things out well Saturday with Justus Sheffield, who went 6.0 innings with one earned, six hits and five strikeouts. Both Austin Nola and Kyle Lewis had three hits, combining for six runs and an RBI as well.
For the Sunday start, Seattle is going with Justin Dunn. Over four starts this season, Dunn is 1-1 with a 7.80 ERA and nine Ks in 15.0 innings. In eight games across his MLB career, Dunn is 1-1 with a 6.23 ERA and 14 Ks in 21.2 frames total.
The over is 6-0 in the Rangers last six during game three of a series and Texas is 2-7 in their last nine games as a road favorite. Texas is 21-7 in their last 28 games versus a team with a winning percentage below .400 and the over is 4-0 in their last four games with the total set at 9.0-10.5.
Meanwhile, the Mariners are 17-39 in their last 56 gams versus a left-handed starter and 18-37 in their last 55 games as a home underdog. Seattle is 16-41 in the last 57 versus the American League West and the under is 13-9 in their last 19 home games.
Pick: Going Rangers. Dunn should be better here, though; he took a line drive to the ribs in his last start and coughed up six runs in two innings versus the Dodgers. Not a great day for him. As for Minor, he’s still looking for that first win this season, and has a good shot here. He pitched four scoreless frames versus Seattle on August 11 with one hit, three walks and four strikeouts. Minor’s ERA isn’t great against the Mariners in his career (5.05), but he should have enough to put Texas in a winning position if the offense can get something going.
