Athletics vs. Mariners Preview

The Oakland Athletics are looking to get a little more breathing room at the top of the AL West standing as the Texas Rangers are breathing down their necks only two games behind.  The A’s also do not want to lose this series, which means they will need a win today to avoid going down 2-0 in a three game series.

The Seattle Mariners are a whopping 10.5 games behind the A’s and will need to start turning things around soon if they want to enter the second half of baseball with a little optimism about the season.  The Mariners are hoping that their recent win against Oakland will give them a big push coming into Game two of this three game series.

The Athletics starting pitcher AJ Griffin has a solid 3.60 ERA in his last three outings and has held opponents to a .213 average.  However, there is good new for the Mariners.  The right-hander has an 0-2 record.  Another stat of Griffin’s may have the Mariners worried as he is 4-0 against AL West teams.

The Mariners will be starting their ace pitcher today in right-hander Felix Hernandez.  Hernandez holds a slew of impressive stats including ranking fourth in the AL in ERA with a 2.49, ranking third in strikeouts with a whopping 102 and ranking third in innings pitched.  In his last game he was able to hold the New York Yankees  to one run on five hits in seven innings despite taking a no decision.  The last time Hernandez pitched against Oakland was on opening day where he allowed  just three hits in 7 2/3 innings for a Mariners win.

The A’s are the slight favorites to win this one over at Bovada with a -112 money line compared to Seattle’s +102.   The game starts at 7:15 p.m. and will be nationally televised on FOX.