Mariners v. Royals series preview: Four meaningful games

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ARLINGTON, TX – AUGUST 02: Kyle Seager Mariners /

The Mariners kick of a big series in Kansas City Thursday night. With the M’s sitting just 1.5 games back of the Royals for the second wild card spot, they could, over the next four games, wind up as good as 2.5 games ahead of KC, or 5.5 games back (shudders).

The Royals had been red hot to start the second half, their run at the playoffs aided by a strong nine game winning streak. As of late though, Kansas City has been struggling. On Wednesday night, Jeremy Hellickson and the Orioles shut them out to complete the three-game sweep in Baltimore.

As the Royals return home, they’ll no doubt be looking to get back to their winning ways against the Mariners. Good thing for Seattle, their rotation landed favorably for the series.

SEATTLE, WA – JULY 29: Starter Yovani Gallardo /

Game One – Thursday – First Pitch: 7:15 PM CT

Yovani Gallardo starts game one, and as much as that may make M’s fans cringe, in his two starts since returning from the bullpen, he is 1-0 with an ERA of 3.38. That number would be even lower had Tony Zych not thrown back-to-back walks to send one of the runners credited to Gallardo across the plate.

Opposing the Mariners is one of the Royals recent acquisitions, Trevor Cahill. His first as a Royal is likely one he would like to forget. He surrendered five runs in just four innings of work against the Boston Red Sox. If the Mariners bats can take advantage of a favorable matchup, Seattle can start this high-stakes series on a positive note.

SEATTLE, WA – JULY 30: Starter James Paxton /

Game Two – Friday – First Pitch: 7:15 PM CT

Thursday’s matchup looks good, but Friday’s looks even better. Newly crowned AL pitcher of the month James Paxton makes the start against the Royals’ Jason Hammel. Paxton’s July was outstanding, and after 6 winning starts where he posted an ERA of 1.37, he leads the AL in ERA with a mark of 2.68. In his career against the Royals, he’s 1-0 with a 2.20 ERA. Hammel is coming off of his first win since June 19, but in 13 home starts this year is 3-4 with a 4.68 ERA.

With the 2017 Mariners, you never know which team will show up, but the matchup of one of the top pitchers in the MLB against a pitcher who’s struggled all year seems like a pretty good one for the Mariners. Wins on Thursday and Friday would put the Mariners ahead of the Royals, and build solid momentum for the last two games of the series.

SEATTLE, WA – JULY 20: Starter Felix Hernandez /

Game Three – Saturday – First Pitch: 6:15 PM CT

Saturday’s game pits Felix Hernandez against Danny Duffy. The latter, one of Kansas City’s more effective starters has seen his 2017 shortened due to injury, but the product he has turned out in his time has been solid. At home, he’s posted an ERA of 2.93, and in three of his last four starts, has surrendered just one run. In his career against the Mariners, He’s 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA.

Felix will need to be sharp if the Mariners are going to take game 3. Fortunately for the M’s he has shown glimpses of his old self in the past few weeks. Obviously, he’s had to change his style, so it’s not exactly his old self, but the results somewhat resemble that of vintage Felix. Most recently, Felix had a tough night in Texas, but the bats bailed him out, and the Mariners took home the win. It won’t be too hard a task to win Saturday, but Felix will need to have solid command and velocity if they’re going to.

ARLINGTON, TX – AUGUST 01: Erasmo Ramirez /

Game Four – Sunday – First Pitch: 1:15 PM CT

Sunday has, currently, Erasmo Ramirez squaring off against Ian Kennedy. In Ramirez’s first start back with the Mariners, he made it through 3.2 innings before surrendering 3 runs, and Servais pulled him out of the game before more damage could be done. Ramirez is in a tough spot as a starter, because he isn’t ever going to get a team deep in the game. He has the stuff to go through the order 2 times, but will allow his fair share of baserunners, so those 2 times through will only get him at the most 4-5 innings.

Possibly, and this has no real weight, so take it as solely speculation, but possibly, the Mariners could call up Marco Gonzales to make his first big league start since being acquired from the Cardinals. Dipoto said we would see him soon, and after Ramirez giving an effort of exactly what fans expected, maybe soon is this weekend.

Kennedy has been solid of late, with six quality starts in his last eight starts, but has yet to record a win at Kauffman Stadium yet this year. He has a 4.60 ERA with a BAA of .222. The Mariners definitely could go to town against Kennedy and pick up a big win Sunday.

ARLINGTON, TX – AUGUST 01: Jeff Nelson /

Conclusion

The Mariners see a solid set of pitching matchups for this series that carries massive implications for the 2017 season. If the Mariners get the outings expected from each pitcher, and the bats do what they should, it could be a big series that boosts the Mariners playoff chances immensely.

Prediction:

Mariners take 3 of 4, end up .5 games ahead of Kansas City in the wild card race. Getting into a playoff spot this weekend would be huge for the rest of the season. The Mariners realize they are in the driver’s seat and control their own destiny, thus improving their play for the rest of the year.

In all, this series is a very big deal for the M’s chances of making the playoffs in 2017, and it seems that they have what it takes to topple the Royals in Kauffman Stadium.

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The Mariners kick of a big series in Kansas City Thursday night. With the M’s sitting just 1.5 games back of the Royals for the second wild card spot, they could, over the next four games, wind up as good as 2.5 games ahead of KC, or 5.5 games back (*shudders*).