Cleveland Indians at Seattle Mariners Preview

The Cleveland Indians and Seattle Mariners will play for the third straight night on Saturday. The Indians picked up the win in the opening game of the series, while the Mariners bounced back and won Game 2. These two teams will play Saturday night and Sunday and wrap up the four-game series. Seattle will then remain at home and welcome the Tigers to town, while Cleveland will stay out west and visit the Angels for a three-game series.

The Cleveland Indians are favorites to win this game. You can bet the Indians at -125, despite being on the road on Saturday.

Youngster on Mound for Cleveland

For the Indians, they will go with 23 year old Triston McKenzie. This will be his sixth start of the season, and he will look to build off his best outing of the season. Despite walking 4 batters in the game, the youngster held the Royals to just 2 hits over 5 innings. McKenzie will need to work on his control issues, as he has walked 16 batters over his last 4 starts. The right-hander stands at 6’5 but weighs just 165 bats. He attended Royal Palm Beach in Florida and came up with the Indians a season ago.

The Cleveland offense has been very hit or miss all season long. The Indians are scoring 4.1 runs per game but averaging just 6.8 hits per game. The Indians’ offense is 29th in batting average and 29th in on base percentage. Luckily for them, the pitching has come to the rescue and allowing just 7 hits per game, and have a team earned run average of 3.45 on the season.

Back to the offensive side, the Indians do not have a single player hitting over .300 in their lineup. Jose Ramirez is one of the top threats with a .244 batting average, while Josh Naylor is hitting .274. The power supply for Cleveland is coming from Ramirez, as he has clubbed 11 home runs. Franmil Reyes has 9 deep flies for Cleveland as well.

Seattle Also Looking for Offense

The Seattle Mariners are another team looking for bats. The Mariners have a team batting average of just over .200 on the season. Seattle has belted 47 home runs but 23rd overall in runs scored. Seattle has not been exceptional on the pitching side either, allowing 4.5 runs per game, and opponents are hitting .240 against them.

Jarred Kelenic was brought up on Thursday and did not get on base but made a huge impact on Friday with 3 hits in 4 at-bats. He will join Mitch Haniger and Kyle Seager in an effort to bolster the Seattle lineup. Haniger leads the team with 11 home runs, while Seager has 8 and also a team-high 9 doubles on the season.
Indians Bats Get Going and Win on the Road

The Cleveland Indians have been an odd team this season, with nights when the bats are rolling, and then, of course, they have been no-hit twice this season. Look for the Cleveland bats to get going in this game and pick up a win in the third game of the series. Look for the young starter in McKenzie to fare decent, and turn it over to the bullpen. The Indians find a way to win this game and make an effort at winning the series on Sunday.

Take the Cleveland Indians -125 over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday.