Mariners Game Preview: Mariners Look for Payback in Oakland

The Seattle Mariners will attempt to win their sixth consecutive series starting Monday night by winning the first game against the Oakland Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum.

The Seattle Mariners (13-11) will travel to face the Oakland Athletics (13-13) in a three game series in Oakland at the Coliseum starting Monday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm.  Nate Karns (2-1, 3.63 ERA) will take the bump for the M’s, and Kendall Graveman (1-2, 4.03 ERA) will be on the hill for the A’s.  Oakland swept Seattle in Seattle early this season.  The Mariners will look for payback starting tonight.

Nate Karns struggled against Oakland giving up four runs in his first start this season in five innings.  The hits all came with two outs and the biggest one came from Josh Reddick who hit a two run home run against Karns in the fifth inning.  In his four starts the right hander has given up three home runs this season.  If he can stay away from the long ball tonight, he may just beat the Athletics.

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Kendall Graveman has a similar issue to Karns.  The right hander has given up five home runs in his four starts.  The long ball problem for the Alexander City, Alabama native is a growing problem.  In his last start he gave up three home runs to the in a 7-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers.  Graveman hasn’t faced the Seattle Mariners this season.

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

Pick to Click

Robinson Cano has the team lead in home runs and RBI’s.  He has taken on the role of the offensive team leader.  His slash line of .237/.308/.515 shows he is scorching hot.  He has led the American League in home runs most of the season.  He knows the Mariners did not fare well against the Oakland pitching staff in the first series the two teams played and that was the main cause of the Oakland sweep.  If this is to be what many have said Cano’s MVP season, look for him to heat up agains their AL rival.  Especially since they swept the Mariners at home.

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Final Score Prediction

This Mariners front office is a statistics based staff and they should have just enough statistics on tap from the last series and the new season to settle the score in this series.  I expect the Mariners to have a season defining series against the Oakland Athletics.  The most recent successful series winning stretch that the Mariners have had was in 2011 when the Mariners went on to win six series in a row.  This season has started with five series wins.  Look for the Mariners to make it six.  The Mariners will win this game 7 to 3.

Next: Mariners Minor League Roundup: Who’s Hot & Who’s Not

Make sure you follow SoDo Mojo on twitter for live updates throughout tonight’s game, and check back after the final out has been recorded for a full recap. Go Mariners!