Mariners Game Preview: M’s Host Astros in Series Opener

The Mariners hope their road success translates to Safeco Field.

The Seattle Mariners (9-9) will welcome the Houston Astros (6-13) to town on Monday night for the opener of a 3-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 pm from the corner of Edgar & Dave. Taijuan Walker (1-0, 1.50 ERA) will be on the bump for the M’s , and Doug Fister (1-2, 5.94 ERA) will get the ball for the Astros.

Prince Tai has been downright filthy this season for the Mariners. With Felix Hernandez struggling to locate his pitches, Walker has essentially established himself as the M’s de-facto ace. He enters play with a record of 1-0 and a 1.50 ERA through 3 starts in 2016. Walker has posted a 14:2 strikeout to walk ratio in 18 innings, and has held the opposition to just 0.944 walks/hits per inning. Tai’s starts are quickly becoming must-see TV for M’s fans, and hopefully tonight will be another quality showing for the youngster.

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Doug Fister spent his first two and a half seasons in the big leagues with the Mariners, but he is better known around baseball for what he’s accomplished with the Detroit Tigers and Washington Nationals. The veteran right-hander signed with the Astros as a free agent this offseason, and the early returns have not been great so far for Houston. Fister is currently 1-2 with a 5.94 ERA across 3 outings.

Mariners’ skipper Scott Servais and Astros’ manager A.J. Hinch have released the following lineups for tonight’s game:

Pick to Click

The Mariners have won 7 of their last 10 games, and the resurgent offense is a key reason why. As a team, the M’s scored an average of 5 runs per game last week. We discussed the top performers from last week here. I’m going to go with Nelson Cruz as my pick to click tonight. The Boomstick was electric last week, going 7 for 23 with a pair of homers and 7 RBI. Cruz has also been very productive against Fister during his career, hitting .348 with 1 home run and 3 RBI in 23 at bats. Look for Nelly to contribute at least 2 hits tonight and hit his 5th dinger of the season.

Final Score Prediction

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There are a lot of parallels between the 2016 Houston Astros and the 2015 Seattle Mariners right now. The Astros entered this season with lofty exceptions, but they are 7 games under .500 nearly 20 games into the year. The ‘Stros will be eager to get things on track, but I doubt that happens tonight against Tai Walker. Few pitchers have been better than Prince Tai this season, and I expect another strong outing from the flame throwing righty. The M’s have not played well at home so far, but I predict they will win 6-2 in the series opener tonight.

Hydro Race Prediction

Figuring out what the final score will be and which player will be the MVP of the game is easy compared to predicting which boat will take the M’s famous jumbotron hydro race. Regardless of whether tonight’s game is a competitive affair, you know that the hydro race will come down to the wire. I’m confident that the yellow boat will pull off a shocking upset and win tonight against the red and green boats.

Next: Mariners Weekly Rundown: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not

Make sure you follow SoDo Mojo on twitter for live updates throughout tonight’s game, and be sure to check back with us after the final out is recored for a full recap. Go Mariners!