AL West rivals square off late Saturday night as the Houston Astros (17-15) take on the Seattle Mariners (15-17). The Mariners will host this one at T-Mobile Park, with first pitch scheduled for 9:40 pm ET.
Houston took the first of this three-game series Friday night. They won 6-4 ahead of their division foes.
The Mariners are the favorites in this one playing at home. They are -118 to win, while the Astros’ moneyline is set at +100. The runline features Seattle +1.5 (-210), and the over/under for total runs is 8.5.
Astros’ Injuries Force Rookie’s Debut
After having a relatively healthy season last year, the Astros have been dealing with the injury bug all season. They are without Jose Altuve, Michael Brantley, Lance McCullers Jr, Jose Urquidy, and others. On Friday, it was announced that starter Luis Garcia is done for the year as he will need Tommy John surgery.
With Garcia out, the Astros will turn to rookie J.P. France to make his Major League debut Saturday night. In five Minor League games this season, he is 2-1 with a 2.33 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, and he has 26 strikeouts in 19.1 innings.
Offensively, the Astros’ big boppers had success in the opener. Both Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker homered, and they drove in five of the six runs on the night.
Alvarez has been the Astros’ best hitter overall. In 95 at bats, he is hitting .263/.377/.537 with a team-leading seven home runs and 30 runs batted in.
As a team, the Astros rank 14th in scoring, averaging 4.42 runs per game (4.83 on the road).
Seattle Looks To Get Back On Track At Home
While Seattle has been respectable at home thus far (8-7), they have struggled at T-Mobile Park (7-10). They will try to reverse that trend and get back in the win column as they host Houston for the second game of this series.
Veteran lefty Marco Gonzales will take the ball for the Mariners in this one. In five games, he is 2-0 with a 4.74 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, and he has 19 strikeouts in 24.2 innings. In his last start, he allowed five earned runs over just three innings in a no-decision against the Blue Jays.
The Mariners currently rank 17th in scoring on the year. They are averaging 4.32 runs per game (4.25 at home).
Jarred Kelenic has gotten off to a nice start. He is hitting .302/.359/.585 with seven home runs and 15 runs batted in over 106 at bats.
Seattle would like to see superstar Julio Rodriguez start to heat up. He is hitting just .216/.285/.400 with five home runs to start the season.
Take Seattle To Win At Home
It is always tough to bet when a young pitcher is making his debut. J.P. France has great stuff, but it will be a test against a really solid Mariners’ team.
On the flip side, Marco Gonzales may not have electric stuff, but he has pitched well enough to keep his team in games.
With the uncertainty of France’s ability to overcome the nerves of his first start, there is a lot of value in Seattle in this one. Take them to win straight up at -118.
