Mariners Look to Gain Wild Card Ground in Finale With Angels

So instead of talking about last night again I’ll just say the Oakland Athletics lost to the Rangers today and the Kansas City Royals don’t play until tomorrow. Time for the Mariners to pick up a half game in the Wild Card standings.

And Happy Felix Day! Let’s get to the preview

Game Details:

Seattle Mariners: 81-70. Last 10: 3-7.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: 95-57. Last 10: 8-2.

Game Time: 7:05 PM Pacific. Location: Anaheim, California. Angels Stadium of Anaheim.

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MATCHUPS:

Pitching:

Seattle Mariners RHP Felix Hernandez (14-5, 2.14 ERA) v. LA Angels LHP Wade LeBlanc (0-1, 6.19 ERA)

Edge? Felix.

Even saying it I know the Mariners will find a way to make LeBlanc look like the second coming of Randy Johnson. Felix though is Felix, leader in the Cy Young race, and King of Seattle. He seems to have settled back into his dominant ways, and he should be able to handle the Angels just as well as Paxton did. But be wary, the Mariners got 1-hit last night.

Lineups:

Mariners:

Austin Jackson 8

Dustin Ackley 7

Robinson Cano 4

Kendrys Morales DH

Kyle Seager 5

Logan Morrison 3

Chris Denorfia 9

Mike Zunino 2

Chris Taylor 6

Of Note: Justin Smoak had the only hit last night for the M’s. In a game where they could have secured themselves a winning season and jumped in the Wild Card race, the offense chose to devolve right back into anemia. Hopefully they can perform for Felix tonight.

Angels:

Tony Campana 8

Gordon Beckham 6

Brennan Boesch 9

C.J. Cron DH

Efren Navarro 3

Grant Green 4

Hank Conger 2

Luis Jiminez 5

Shawn O’Malley 7

Of Note: the Angels jumped on a golden opportunity last night in the 7th. Tonight, they have decided to, as Steve Sandmeyer of 1090 AM the Fan puts it:

Final Thoughts:

Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton, Howie Kendrick, and pretty much every other position player starter is sitting tonight for the Angels. The ‘scrubs’ so to speak are being thrown out there to be mauled by Felix Hernandez. The Angels have already clinched the division and are fast-tracked towards the best record in the American League, so resting their best guys instead of making them struggle through a game against the best pitcher in baseball only makes sense.

That doesn’t, however, mean the Mariners are going to figure out how to score.

Score Prediction:

Mariners 3, Rangers 1.