Can the Hot-Hitting Mariners Beat the Diamondbacks in the Desert?

The Mariners and the Diamondbacks meet at Chase Field for an ALC West v. NLC West matchup. Thankfully, Chase Field in Phoenix is airconditioned because a recent game was 106 degrees outside at first pitch!

The Diamondbacks, 55-48, just moved to third place in the NL West, yielding second place to the San Francisco Giants. (The LA Dodgers lead the NL West.) In the AL West, the Mariners are almost tied with the Angels. Both trail the Astros and the Rangers. The Mariners have 52 wins and 50 losses.

Starting Game Times v. Arizona

Friday 7/28: 6:40 PM, Pacific

Saturday 7/29: 5:10 PM, Pacific

Sunday, 7/30: 1:10 PM, Pacific

Hitting

The Diamondbacks" strong batters have a cumulative batting average of .258 and are currently ranked eighth in MLB. The Mariners’ batting average is .232, 22nd in MLB. The Mariners hopefully feel increasingly confident in their abilities to score after recent games.

Potential Lineup

These players will likely comprise the Arizona lineup for the three games against Seattle. Read these stats as Switch Hitting Batter (SHB), player name, (defensive position), .281 batting average (BA), .814 OPS (On-base plus slugging), and 37 Runs Batted In (RBIs) from 256 At Bats (ABs).

SHB Geraldo Perdomo (SS) .281 BA, .814 OPS and 37 RBIs from 256 ABs

RHB Nick Ahmed (SS) .228 BA, .599 OPS and 14 RBIs from 145 ABs.

SHB Ketel Marte (2B) .291 BA, .885 OPS and 55 RBIs from 371 ABs

LHB Corbin Carroll (LF) .288 BA, .921 OPS and 57 RBIs from 351 ABs

RHB Lourdes Gurriel, Jr. (3B/LF/DH) .249 BA, .749 OPS and 56 RBIs from 350 ABs

RHB Christian Walker (1B) .268 BA, .871 OPS, and 67 RBI from 373 ABs

LHB Dominic Canzone (DH) .185 BA, .600 OPS and 6 RBIs from 27 ABs

RHB Evan Longoria (DH) .238 BA, .803 OPS and 24 RBIs from 160 ABs

RHB Emmanuel Rivera (3B) .290 BA, .747 OPS and 23 RBIs in 193 ABs

LHB Jake McCarthy (RF) .259 BA, .692 OPS and 14 RBIs in 220 ABs

LHB Alek Thomas (CF) .237 BA, .677 OPS and 19 RBIs from 211 ABs

RHB Carson Kelly (C) .167 BA, .415 OPS and 5 RBIs from 66 ABs

SHB Jose Herrera (C) .233 BA, .619 OPS and 6RBIs from 60 ABs

Pitching

The Mariners are eighth in MLB in pitching with a cumulative ERA (Earned Run Average) of 3.87. The Diamondbacks are 25th in MLB pitching with a cumulative ERA average of 4.67.

Read the statistics about the pitchers like this: , 3.88 Earned Run Average (ERA), allowed 54 runs (Rs) and made 116 strikeouts (SOs) in 125.1 innings pitched (IP)

Friday, July 28, RHP Logan Gilbert, 3.88 ERA, 54 Rs and 116 SOs in 125.1 IP v. LHP Tommy Henry, 4.01 ERA, 38 Rs and 58 SOs in 83 IP

Saturday, July 29, RHP Bryan Woo, 4.91 ERA, 27 Rs and 54 SOs in 44 IP v. RHP Brandon Pfaadt, 8.81 ERA, 31 Rs and 27 SOs in 31.2 IP

Sunday, July 30, RHP Luis Castillo, 3.02 ERA, 50 Rs and 142 SOs in 125.1 IP v. RHP Merill Kelly, 3.12 ERA, 41 Rs and 103 SOs in 101 IP

Los Bomberos: The Marvelous Mariner Bullpen Firemen

I thought I would highlight several of the Mariner Relievers we have been seeing of late. They

Matt Brash, 3.48 ERA, 18 Rs and 73 SOs in 41.1 IPs

Paul Sewald, 3.00 ERA, 15 Rs and 59 SOs in 42 IPs

Justin Topa 2.77 ERA, 15 Rs and 37 SOs in 39 IPs

Gabe Speier, 4.13 ERA, 15 Rs and 34 SOs in 32.2 IPs

Andres Munoz, 2.95 ERA, 7 Rs and 32 SOs in 21.1 IPs

Tayler Saucedo, 2.37 ERA, 8 Rs and 30 SOs in 30.1 IPs

Isaiah Campbell, 1.50 ERA, 1 R and 8 SOs in 6 IPs.

So . . .

The Mariners are bringing plenty of their own heat to Phoenix including the excellent starting pitchers, the Bomberos, and the bats that have been making noise in the last several games. Unless the Mariners' batters fade out or make uncharacteristic errors in defense, the games with the Diamondbacks should be exciting with a series win and, hopefully, a sweep resulting.