Orioles, Mariners Evenly Matched As Series Kicks Off
Who: Baltimore Orioles v. Seattle Mariners
When: Monday August 14th, 2017 10:10PM EST
Where: SafeCo Field—Seattle, Washington
The Mariners and Orioles are two teams that have a lot more in common than you might originally believe. Perhaps their biggest similarity is the fact that neither of them are at the forefront of the playoff race anymore. While only a few weeks ago, both of these sides were believed to be Wild Card contenders, if nothing else, a lot has changes since the beginning of August.
The Mariners, for example, were just swept at home, in 4 games, to a division rival. While this is assuredly a major morale destroyer, it did perhaps even more damage to their playoff hopes. Heading into their 4-game series with the Angels, the Mariners had the world at their hands and looked to be in solid shape. Now, there are questions about almost every aspect of their game, but especially their pitching. In 3 of their 4 games with Los Angeles, the Mariners were leading before their bullpen was called into action. It goes without saying that those aforementioned leads were quickly turned into deficits that ended up being losses.
If there has ever been a team that is in need of a few victories, it is the Mariners. Whether their needs are met or not, however, remain to be seen.
The Orioles have more or less given up on the playoffs at this point, and after dropping 2 of 4 to the Athletics it is pretty easy to see why. The O’s have almost no reliable starting pitcher, and that much has proven to really work against them in the long-run. Against the Mariners, the matchup is even worse for the Orioles than it was against the A’s. While I am not expecting Baltimore to do much of anything positive as their road trip wears on, they do have an opportunity to once and for all demolish Seattle’s hopes of a post-season run this year.
Because this is a 3-game series, Bovada is currently offering odds on which team will win 2 of the 3. Right now, both the Orioles and Mariners are listed at (-115) odds of winning the series. If I were to give you a prediction to make, I think the Mariners are the more likely of the two teams to win at least two games.
Game Overview and Analysis
For the Orioles (-115), it will be Kevin Gausman (8-8 5.21 ERA) who will be making the start. Like most Orioles pitchers, Gausman is struggling to find any bit of consistency, and has been dealing with this struggle for a good majority of the year. Apart from his most recent outing against the Angels, a loss where he gave up 4 runs, Gausman has recently been keeping his run tallies to a minimum. If you exclude his most recent start, Gausman’s last 4 outings have seen him give up a combined 2 earned runs while going 3-0 in the process.
For a Mariners team that has been struggling to get runs across the plate, Gausman is just about the last person you would want to see on the mound. The real question mark surrounding the O’s will be what their bats can bring. One night they are able to rattle off 10+ runs, while other nights they can be held to 3 or fewer. If they can hit the ball—which they should be able to—the Orioles will have a decent change of keeping the Matriners’ woes alive. Perhaps this is the series where the Orioles finally move above .500 for the first time in a while.
For the Mariners (-105) it is Yovani Gallardo (5-7 5.38 ERA) who will be taking the mound. Gallardo has struggled in his recent outings and has been giving up a healthy amount of runs almost every time out. If he cannot get ahold of his control, it will be another poor outing for him on Monday. For the Mariners’ bats, the story is the same; it has recently been a struggle. To make a long story short, the Mariners need to entirely revamp their level of play. If they continue to meander along, trading 2 losses for 1 win, they will finally and definitely kiss their hopes of a post-season berth goodbye for the final time.
Betting Prediction
I think there is no other choice to make than the Mariners’ moneyline. While I understand that Gausman is probably the better of the two pitchers, his offense has recently not been helping him out at all. Fully aware that anything less than a win is unacceptable, I expect the Mariners to come out and put on a solid performance.
Seattle are listed as +1.5 underdogs (-155) on the point spread, and I think this is a spread that can be covered. The Mariners are going to put the Angels series behind them and I think they will take care of the Orioles easily on Monday. If nothing else, they should cover this spread.