Seattle Mariners Series Preview Vs New York Mets

After a tough 3 game series down in Anaheim, where the Seattle Mariners lost 2 games in the final at bats, the M’s look to bounce back at home against the New York Mets.

The Mets started the second half of the season the same way as the Mariners, losing 2 of 3 to San Diego but are 7 and 3 in their last 10 games.

Mets are 21-29 on the road while the Mariners are 24-26 at Safeco.

The Richard Sherman Charity event brought in 22 thousand people to Safeco over the weekend, hope some of those fans stick around and attend the Mariners games, this team needs the city of Seattle to be behind them 100%.

MATCH UPS:

Game One: Roenis Elias (7-8 4.54 ERA) VS. Jonathon Niese (5-4 2.96 ERA)

Its no secret, Elias is at that learning curve in a rookies season where other teams are making adjustments, and Elias just can’t seem to counteract those adjustments.

In his last three games, Elias has given up a total of 16 ERAs in only 14 and 1/3 innings and is 0-3.

In his first start coming back from the DL, Niese looks to continue his upward spiral in his previous two starts before the DL, Niese pitched 6 innings against the Pirates, and 6 innings against the Marlins giving up 3 runs in both games, getting the victory in both games.

Advantage: Push. One player is coming off of shoulder pain and a DL stint, and the other has been struggling to get his command in tact, and get through a game without giving up multiple runs.

Game Two: TBA VS. Jacob deGrom (3-5 3.18 ERA)

While there is speculation that Erasmo Ramirez is getting a call up for the game on Tuesday, nothing has been announced from the club so we wont be writing about him just yet.

Jacob deGrom is an example of a pitchers record not showing how well he has been pitching. From June 21st, deGrom has lowered his ERA from 3.75 to 3.18. He pitched consecutive games against the Pirates and Braves where he gave up 5 runs in 11.2 innings and got tagged with losses in both games.

DeGrom has been pitching a lot better recently and the Mariners hitters are going to have to make him work to get to the bullpen and get a chance to win.

Advantage: Mets. Ramirez or Walker, both pitchers have been struggling as of late. deGrom is getting better and better.

Game Three: Hisashi Iwakuma (8-4 2.95 ERA) VS. Bartolo Colon (8-8 4.12 ERA)

Probably the most intriguing game of the series puts Iwakuma against Bartolo Colon.

Iwakuma is as hot as hot comes, in his last 4 games he has given up 5 runs in 28 and 2/3 innings.

He just missed his first career complete game against the Oakland A’s before the All Star Break and got a ND against the Angels when the Mariners lost in 16 innings.

Bartolo Colon has lost 3 out of his last 4 games giving up 17 runs in 26 innings against the Pirates, Braves, Rangers and Padres. Mariners have seen a lot of Colon with his time with the Oakland A’s last season.

Advantage: Mariners. Its hard to bet against Iwakuma with how great he has been doing recently. With the Mariners seeing Colon last season, they will know his tendencies and know what he will want to throw at what count.

AL West Standings:

Oakland A’s 61-37               –

Anaheim Angels 59-38  1.5 Games Back

Seattle Mariners 52-46  9.0 Games Back

Houston Astros 41-58  20.5 Games Back

Texas Rangers   39-59  22.0 Games Back