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Mariners Game Preview: Kuma Goes for Win #10

By Brian Helberg

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The Seattle Mariners (75-84) welcome the lowly Oakland A’s (66-93) to town on Friday night for the final series of the year. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 pm from the corner of Edgar & Dave. Hisashi Iwakuma (9-5, 3.67 ERA) will get the ball for the M’s in the opener, and Aaron Brooks (2-4, 7.36 ERA) will be on the bump for the Athletics. Root Sports Northwest will broadcast the game live locally, and MLB.tv subscribers can watch worldwide on connected devices.

Mariners’ skipper Lloyd McClendon and Athletics’ manager Bob Melvin have released the following lineups for tonight’s game:

Pitching Preview

Hisashi Iwkauma will make his 20th start of the season tonight for the Mariners. After missing nearly 3 months due to injury, Kuma has been electric over the past couple months. The 34-year-old right-hander is 7-3 with a 2.76 ERA since August 2. He has fanned 66 and walked 13 over his last 75 innings pitched. However, Iwakuma has struggled against the A’s, going 1-1 and posting a 6.55 ERA.

Aaron Brooks was acquired by the A’s this July from the Kansas City Royals as part of the return package for Ben Zobrist. The 25-year-old right-hander has gotten off to a rough start with his new club, going 2-4 with a 7.36 ERA through his first 10 appearances. Brooks was lit up in his lone start against the M’s, allowing 6 runs on 6 hits through 2.1 innings en route to picking up the loss. Hopefully we see a repeat performance from the Mariners’ bats this evening.

Sep 22, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; Seattle Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano (22) at batting practice prior to the game against the Seattle Mariners at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Pick to Click

Robinson Cano tallied 4 hits for Seattle in Wednesday’s loss against the Houston Astros, and I am hoping for another big game tonight. Robby posted a .238 batting average through the first 77 games of the season, but has hit .331 in the 79 games since. He has clubbed 16 home runs and driven in 52 RBI during his remarkable run. Cano enters play riding a 14 game hitting streak, and is a .500 lifetime hitter against Aaron Brooks. I predict Cano will go 3 for 5 tonight, with a home run and 3 RBI.

Final Score Prediction

The Seattle Mariners have been ridiculously successful against the A’s in 2015, going 12-4. The M’s have won 5 consecutive games against the Athletics dating back to August 25. The Mariners have not lived up to the hype this year, but hopefully they can finish strong. I am predicting Seattle will win 7-3 on Friday night at Safeco Field in the series opener.

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