Mariners vs. Tigers Pick
Who will grab the rubber match when the Detroit Tigers host the Seattle Mariners this afternoon at 1:10PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, the Tigers are favored in today’s game, as they are getting odds of -135 to win. The Mariners are listed with a money line of +125 to prevail. The over/under total for the game is listed at 8.5 runs. After winning Game 1 of the series 19-9 on Tuesday, Seattle came back on Wednesday with an 8-0 victory.
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Today’s pitching matchup has Justin Verlander (1-2, 6-04 ERA) taking the mound for the Tigers to face Hisashi Iwakuma (0-2, 5.81) of the Mariners. After two good starts to open the season, Verlander has given up 13 earned runs over nine innings in his last two starts. He has 22 strikeouts over 22 innings, but also has 11 walks this season. Iwakuma has been average most of this season. A poor start against Texas (3 IP, 6 ER) stands out, but he hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in his other three starts.
Detroit fell to 11-9 on the season and 6-3 at home after losing 8-0 last night. The lack of hitters like Miguel Cabrera and J.D. Martinez in the lineup proved to be a problem. The team amassed just four hits last night after erupting on Tuesday for 19 runs. Wednesday is probably a better representative of the current lineup and what it’s capable of. The pitching continued to struggle in the loss as well. Daniel Norris lasted just four innings while giving up four earned runs. Anibal Sanchez continued to struggle in relief, allowing four runs in four innings as well. His ERA this season is 9.82.
The Mariners improved to 9-13 overall and 3-10 on the road with Wednesday’s win. James Paxton pitched seven strong innings on the mound, striking out nine while allowing just four hits. At the plate, Seattle racked up 15 hits. Nelson Cruz hit his fifth home run of the season and had two RBI to make it 19 for the season. Jean Segura added three hits to boost his season average to .364.
The Tigers need a strong outing from the starter to win games right now. Their bullpen is a dumpster fire, so no lead is really safe. Verlander needs to go at least seven innings, but his game isn’t at its best right now. He has been struggling to get strikeouts and allowing plenty of hits in his last two outings. Iwakuma should be able to give the Mariners another six innings of work and keep the team in the game. His lineup should lift him from there against the Detroit bullpen.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: SEATTLE MARINERS +125