Mariners look to take advantage of Twins in upcoming series

It is easy to say after the blown lead occurs what could have been changed to prevent that. However, the Seattle Mariners were just a few outs away from beating Cleveland Saturday night and grabbing a win in this series.

Mariners fans know what happened in that game, so I may not need to go over it too much. However, the poor play of pitcher Rafael Montero came back to haunt the Mariners late in the game.

That game started great for Seattle, about as good a start as you would want. Cleveland starter Triston McKenzie walked the first two batters of the game, forced Kyle Seager to fly out, then walked the very next batter in Jake Fraley.

So, it is safe to say things were looking good for the Mariners early in that game Saturday night. Even Yusei Kikuchi had a stellar night while he was on the mound. So, things were looking promising after a terrible 7-0 loss to the Indians on Friday.

The Mariners have the opportunity to catch fire now.

However, lousy pitching and errors would end up being the cause of death to the Mariners in extra innings on Saturday. The Mariners are still below .500, and if they want to chip away at a potential wildcard spot, they need to start winning series at a rapid rate.

That is why this upcoming homestand is so essential. While they start the stand with a weaker record, their opponents can be challenging. Seattle will play the Twins to start, then the MLB’s best record in Tampa Bay.

While Minnesota is not at the same strength they once were a few years ago, it can still be dangerous. With the likes of Nelson Cruz, Jorge Polanco, Josh Donaldson, and Miguel Sano, their offense can be dangerous.

Seattle needs to take advantage of a team that seems a bit lost. Minnesota has dealt with injuries and pitching woes all season, and that’s just what the Mariners need to get going.

The Seattle Mariners are catching Twins at a bad time

The Minnesota Twins are not the team they once were a few years ago, the team that was hitting the most home runs in the league, battling for the best record in the AL. Now, they are fighting to make sure they don’t have the worst record in the AL.

At a whopping 26-39, the Twins are not only last in their division but third to last in the American League. Many of their problems have sprouted from injuries this year, making it hard to put together good runs throughout the season.

Fortunately for the Mariners, they are catching the Twins at a bad time. Minnesota is coming off of a 14-3 loss against the Astros and has not played well lately. In their last six games, the Twins are 2-4, while the Mariners are also not playing well as of late as a whole, they have done well their last two games.

We may see the Mariners lose this series to the Twins for a couple of reasons—one of those being the injury problems Seattle is facing right now. Just the prior game, Mitch Haniger left the game with a left knee contusion after fouling a ball off his leg.

Or, we could see a series win due to how well the bats and pitching have gone. In their last two games, Seattle has registered 21 total hits, meaning the bats are alive.

Look for players like Jake Fraley to stay hot along with J.P. Crawford. Mariners should win two of three games to start an important homestand.