Tampa Bay Rays at Seattle Mariners Betting Preview
Saturday evening will feature an American League battle of East versus West as the Tampa Bay Rays (17-10) take on the Seattle Mariners (12-15). The Mariners will host this one at T-Mobile Park, with the first pitch scheduled for 9:10 pm ET.
After Tampa Bay took the first of this four-game series on Thursday 4-3, they struck again with a ninth-inning rally on Friday to win 8-7.
Trailing by one in the ninth, Manuel Margot hit his first home run of the season, a three-run blast scoring Randy Arozarena and Brandon Lowe.
Offensively for the Mariners, Eugenio Suarez hit two home runs, his fifth and sixth of the season, while Jarred Kelenic hit his third. In total, the Mariners had 11 hits, and while they scored seven runs, they did leave 19 on base.
Tampa Bay is the favorite in this one despite playing on the road. They are -134 to win while the Mariners’ moneyline sits at +114. The runline features Seattle +1.5 (-160), and the over/under for total runs is seven.
Rays Trying To Compete In Loaded AL East
To illustrate how solid the AL East is this season, there are three teams with at least 16 wins, and every team has double-digit wins at this point. At 17-10, the Rays sit two games back of the top-seeded Yankees.
Kevin Cash of the Rays will send righty Drew Rasmussen to the mound looking to pick up another win. This season, Rasmussen is 2-1 with a 3.13 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, and he has struck out 21 in 23 innings.
In his last start, Rasmussen picked up the win over the A’s after going five innings and allowing just one earned run.
Offensively, the Rays rank tied for fifth in the majors in runs scored at 121. Unfortunately, there is also a lot of swing and miss to their game as they have the seventh-most strikeouts at 238.
Leading the offense has been shortstop Wander Franco. In 104 at bats, he is hitting .298/.327/.510 with a team-leading four home runs, 15 runs batted in, and 18 runs scored.
Despite hitting just .200, Brandon Lowe has also done well with three home runs, nine runs batted in, and 15 runs scored.
Mariners Look To Avoid Sixth Straight Loss
After starting the season 12-10, the Mariners enter play on Saturday, having lost five straight games. As they look to avoid slipping any more in the AL West, they will try to get back into the win column against a consistently tough Rays team.
Making the start for the Mariners is lefty Marco Gonzales. This season, Gonzales is 1-3 with a 4.05 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, and has 16 strikeouts in 20 innings of work. In his last start, he took the loss against the Houston Astros after giving up three earned runs in six innings of work.
Arguably the best hitter on the team for the Mariners has been Ty France. The first baseman is currently hitting .327/.397/.495 with five home runs, 21 runs batted in, and 13 runs scored.
Eugenio Suarez (seven home runs, 18 runs batted in) and J.P. Crawford (.347 avg., four home runs, ten runs batted in) have also had a nice start to the year.
The Mariners currently rank tied for 10th in runs scored at 114 on the season.
Take Tampa Bay To Win Saturday Night
The Mariners are just a tough team to bet on right now. Not only are they in the midst of a five-game losing streak, but Marco Gonzales has been anything but dominant this season.
Conversely, Tampa Bay continues to put together teams that find ways to win and compete in the AL East. Now just two games behind the Yankees, Tampa Bay will look to secure a series win Saturday.
Given the edge, they currently have in momentum and play, expect the Rays to win, and don’t be surprised if they cover the -1.5 runline.
