The Seattle Mariners and the Texas Rangers meet in game two of their three-game AL West division set in MLB action from Globe Life Field on Saturday.

Mariners Fall Short In Opener

The Seattle Mariners had a great chance to get a big win in terms of the playoff race on Friday but fell short in an 8-5 loss to the Rangers. The loss dropped Seattle to 84-69 on the year, sitting one game back in the AL West race and 0.5 games back in the AL Wild Card hunt. Julio Rodriguez leads the Mariners with 176 hits and 100 RBIs along with 31 home runs while Cal Raleigh has 30 home runs this season. Teoscar Hernandez has 25 home runs along with 90 RBIs for the Mariners this season and Eugenio Suarez has 21 homers of his own along with 90 RBIs as well. J.P. Crawford also has a .265 batting average and a .379 OBP this season. Logan Gilbert will start here for the Mariners and is 13-6 with a 3.77 ERA and 182 strikeouts this season.

Rangers Pick Up Huge Win

The Texas Rangers snagged a huge win in Friday’s series opener to leapfrog into the AL West lead with a record of 85-68, ahead of the Houston Astros by 0.5 games. Adolis Garcia has a team-high 35 home runs and 102 RBIs while Marcus Semien has a team-high 176 hits along with 38 doubles this season. Nathaniel Lowe also has a .271 batting average, a .368 OBP and 38 doubles this season. Corey Seager’s also chipped in 32 home runs and 94 RBIs with a .333 average so far this year. Jordan Montgomery will get the start for the Rangers here and is 9-11 with a 3.38 ERA and 155 strikeouts this season.

Chris’ Pick

I’m sticking with the Rangers here. It just feels like the Rangers are playing the better baseball right now, and while Gilbert’s had the bulk of his success on the road this season, I’m not at a point where I trust him against a Rangers lineup that’s top-5 in team OPS and ISO against righties in September. Seattle’s had issues against lefties as of late and I think that puts them behind the 8-ball here. Give me Texas.