Houston Astros vs. Seattle Mariners Series Preview
Houston Astros (36-47) vs Seattle Mariners (44-38) Series Preview
Series Rundown: The Mariners head into the juice box winning 7 of their last 10 for a three-game set vs the Astros Monday through Wednesday. The Mariners have won 3 straight series by sweeping Kansas City, taking 2 of 3 from Boston, and 2 of 3 from Cleveland. Seattle’s offense is rated 23rd in batting average (.242) vs Houston’s 28th ranked batting average (.236). Pitching wise as a team Seattle ranks 4th in the league for ERA at 3.24 vs Houston pitching ERA ranking of 22nd at 4.06. The Astros vs Mariners season series is tied at 5-5.
Probable Starters:
Monday June 30th 7:10pm- SEA: Taijuan Walker RHP (season debut) vs HOU: Collin McHugh RHP (4-6, 2.86 ERA, 81 K’s)
Mariners top prospect Taijuan Walker will take the mound Monday for Seattle vs Houston’s Collin McHugh. Walker got the call up from Triple-A after some very impressive starts for the Tacoma Rainiers. Walker has made 3 starts for Seattle in 2013 going 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA in 15 innings pitched. Walker didn’t start the season with the big league club after missing most of spring training with a shoulder issue.
McHugh has lost 3 consecutive decisions with losses to Tampa Bay and Atlanta, McHugh has not allowed more than 3 runs in 10 of his 12 starts. But McHugh has faced Seattle twice this season, the first time in his season debut beating Seattle in 6.2 innings, surrendering just 3 hits, 0 runs, and striking out 12 M’s. In his last outing vs Seattle McHugh went 4 innings giving up 8 hits and 5 earned runs.
Tuesday July 1st 7:10pm- SEA: Hisashi Iwakuma RHP (5-4, 3.48 ERA, 55 K’s) vs HOU: Jarred Cosart RHP (8-5, 3.60 ERA, 62 K’s)
Iwakuma has struggled in his last two outings against Kansas City and Boston giving up 5 runs in each appearance and not throwing more than 5 innings. Iwakuma has faced Houston twice this season going 1-1 on the year vs the Astros, Iwakuma surrendered 4 runs in each apperance vs Houston. Jarred Cosart was gold for the Astros in June going 4-1, Cosart has won his last 4 starts and hopes to keep it rolling vs Seattle. Cosart lost both apperances this season vs the Mariners, but in his last 2 starts hehas only surrendered 1 run.
Wednesday July 2nd 1:10pm- SEA: Chris Young RHP (7-4, 3.15 ERA, 47 K’s) vs HOU: Brad Peacock RHP (2-4, 4.21 ERA, 63 K’s)
Chris Young the 6’10 Texas native will make his 2nd start vs the Astros this season. In his first start Young went 7 innings giving up 4 hits and 3 runs. The good news for the Astros is Young doesn’t strike many batters out with only 47 on the season, his 6 strike outs vs Houston ties a season high. Brad Peacock has surrendered a run in each appearance this season, Peacock has faced Seattle once this year giving up 4 runs in 6 innings receiving a no decision.
Series Outlook:
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All three pitching matches fare well for the Astros, the possibilities of a series win looks bright for the Astros with even a chance for a sweep. Dexter Fowler should return from a sore back for this series to resume duties in center field, George Springer in right, Alex Presley and L.J. Hoes tandem in left. The infield will feature the usual suspects of Jon Singleton at 1st base, offensive machine Jose Altuve at 2nd, Matt Dominguez at 3rd base, and Jonathan Villar at short.
The Seattle Mariners too look at for are Hisashi Iwakuma, 2nd baseman Robinson Cano (.319 avg/ 5 HR/ 45 RBI), 3rd baseman Kyle Seager (.277 avg/ 12 HR/ 55 RBI), and catcher Mike Zunino (.225 avg/ 11 HR/ 28 RBI).
With all that said our attention turns to manager Bo Porter and the Astros who have a great possibility of taking this series at home vs the Seattle Mariners.