The Houston Astros and the Seattle Mariners meet in game one of their three-game AL West series in MLB action from T-Mobile Park on Monday.
Astros Looking To Turn Things Around
The Houston Astros will be looking to right the ship down the stretch, and it starts with this series after being swept by the Kansas City Royals on Sunday with a 6-5 loss in the series finale. The loss dropped the Astros to 85-71 on the year, sitting 2.5 games back of the Rangers in the AL West race while holding on to the final Wild Card spot over Seattle by a half game. Kyle Tucker leads the Astros with a .281 batting average and 109 RBIs with a .367 OBP and 34 doubles with 28 homers as well while Alex Bregman has 24 homers with 96 RBIs and a team-high 156 hits. Yordan Alvarez has a team-leading 29 homers and 94 RBIs while Tucker also has a team-high 29 stolen bases this season. Justin Verlander will start for the Astros here and is 11-8 with a 3.44 ERA and 131 strikeouts this season.
Mariners Swept In Key Series
The Seattle Mariners had a big chance to control a lot of their destiny in the playoff push, but instead gave that control to Texas. The Rangers swept Seattle in their three-game series with the Mariners taking a 9-8 loss in Sunday’s series finale. The loss dropped Seattle to 84-71 on the year, sitting 3 games back of the Rangers in the division and a half game back of Houston for the final Wild Card spot in the AL. Julio Rodriguez leads the Mariners with 179 hits and 100 RBIs along with 31 home runs and a .284 batting average while Cal Raleigh has 30 home runs this season. Teoscar Hernandez has 26 home runs along with 92 RBIs for the Mariners this season and Eugenio Suarez has 21 homers of his own along with 92 RBIs as well. J.P. Crawford also has a .266 batting average and a .378 OBP this season. Luis Castillo will start here and is 14-7 with a 3.06 ERA and 207 strikeouts this season.
Chris’ Pick
I’m sticking with Seattle here. It’s tough to pass on this kind of price with a future hall-of-famer in Verlander, but Verlander’s been shaky in some spots since joining the Astros at the deadline, and while Castillo’s had his ups and downs at times, he’s clearly re-established himself as the ace of the Mariners’ rotation having dominated in a lot of his recent outings. I think this is going to be a pitcher’s duel, but in the end, I think it’s one the Mariners win when all is said and done. Give me Seattle.
