Mariners Lineup will need to produce in order to defeat the Angels

The Los Angeles Angels have some incredibly talented hitters, but it is going to be the offense on the other side that we focus on as the Mariners success in the next series may come down to how well they hit the baseball.

The Opening Night loss in Oakland for the Los Angeles Angels was perhaps the dress rehearsal for Saturday’s game against the same division rival. In their first game, Oakland beat the Angels 2-1. Then in their second game, the Angels roared back and beat Oakland 13-1, gaining 11 runs in the third inning. The Angels won the third game, 6-0.

Mariners vs Angels: What we could see from Seattle

The Mariners will lead off Monday with George Kirby on the mound, followed on Tuesday by Luis Castillo, and Wednesday by Chris Flexen. Flexen replaces Robbie Ray, while he recuperates from a left flexor strain.

In the series with Cleveland, Ty France hit a three-run home run on Opening Day for the win. On Friday evening, the Mariners had 4 runs from 7 hits and lost. On Saturday, the lineup made 2 hits and no runs for a 2-0 loss to the Guardians. Sunday’s game ended with the Guardians winning 6 to 5. All in all, the offense struggled to produce when it mattered despite a handful of opportunities to score.

I believe that the Mariners need to bat well because the Angels have players who can rack up the runs. Our starting and relief pitchers can deter some of the Angels’ scoring, but the batters need to give the pitchers solid help with runs.

Mariners vs Angels: What to expect from Anaheim

The Angels will have Reid Detmers pitching Monday, José Suarez throwing Tuesday, and finish with Shohei Ohtani pitching Wednesday. FanGraphs assigned a 2022 WAR of 2.3 to Detmers, 1.6 to Suarez, and 5.6 to Ohtani. Detmers struck batters out most often with his 73-93 MPH slider, Suarez favored the fastball, and Ohtani threw deadly 97 MPH splitters. Ohtani may pitch and bat which will be something to see!

The Angels have two starters on the IL: catcher Max Stassi and first basemen Jared Walsh. (The Saturday game featured former Mariner Jake Lamb, a Seattleite, at first base.) Several players contributed to Saturday’s high score, as in the end, Ward had four RBIs; Ohtani had two; Rendon had one; Lamb had two RBIs; Urshela had two, and O’Hoppe had two. It may be Oakland, but if Seattle isn't careful, the Angels could strike again.

Best of luck, Mariners, against the Angels!