Seattle Mariners Gameday Preview Versus the Indians

Happy Felix Day to all! After getting blanked by the Indians last night, King Felix has a chance to get the Seattle Mariners quickly back to their winning ways while also driving his win total up to 10 games on the season.

Game Details:

Seattle Mariners: 43-38. Last 10: 6-4.

Cleveland Indians 39-41. Last 10: 4-6.

Game Details: 1:10 PM Pacific. Seattle, Washington. Safeco Field.

MATCHUPS:

Pitching:

Seattle Mariners RHP Felix Hernandez (9-2, 2.24 ERA) v. Cleveland Indians LHP T.J. House (0-1, 4.88 ERA)

EDGE: Felix. The only guy with a better ERA in the American League is Masahiro Tanaka. Felix has been on a tear of late and no one– especially not rookie House of the Tribe– stands to slow down Felix’s torrid pace towards another All-Star appearance. If the Mariners can put two or three runs behind him, Felix will cruise to win number 10.

Lineups:

Mariners:

Willie Bloomquist 6

Michael Saunders 8

Robinson Cano 4

Kyle Seager 5

Mike Zunino 2

Logan Morrison 3

Stefen Romero 9

John Buck DH

Cole Gillespie 7

Of Note: The Mariners were one-hit last night by the Indians, something not entirely unexpected with the hot and cold nature of the Mariners’ offense. Seager provided the lone hit, while the rest of the team got goose-egged without a single walk. Hopefully this offense can shake that one off and get back to their winning ways.

Indians:

Michael Bourn 8

Jason Kipnis 4

Michael Brantley 7

Carlos Santana DH

Lonnie Chisenhall 5

David Murphy 9

Nick Swisher 3

George Kottaras 2

Mike Aviles 6

Of Note: The top of the Indians order did the damage against Roenis Elias last night, each of the first four hitters in the lineup getting a single hit and a single RBI. Swisher continues to flounder at the bottom of the order, perhaps making some Mariners fans happy that the front office didn’t pull the trigger on him a few offseasons ago.

Other Notes:

The Mariners have crossed the halfway point in the season, now 43-38. This puts them, statistically, on pace for an 86-win season. That would be a great improvement from last season, but this team is going to need 88 wins to really give it a chance at the playoffs.

Also, Taijuan Walker is set to make Taijuan Walker Set To Make 2014 Debut Monday At Houston” href=”https://sodomojo.com/2014/06/29/taijuan-walker-set-make-2014-debut-monday-houston/” target=”_blank”>Monday’s start for the Mariners. So that’s cool too.

Final Thoughts:

Expect Felix to be Felix today, with some extra fire in his belly because his team just lost and because he can taste the double-digit win total. He may not throw a complete-game shutout, but he will keep the Mariners in the game even with meager run support. House, if he pitches Josh Tomlin did last night, could give the Mariners a run for their money.

Score Prediction:

Mariners 2, Indians 1.