The Los Angeles Angels are going to play in October regardless of the outcome of their game against the Seattle Mariners later. On the other hand, the Mariners’ season continues to hang in the balance. A win against Los Angeles, however, will provide Seattle a glimmer of hope in their search for a wild card ticket. Read more about this game below. You could also check out our preview of another crucial American League game in Royals vs. White Sox here.
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Los Angeles Angels vs. Seattle Mariners Betting Preview
Where: Safeco Field, Seattle
When: Sunday, September 28, 2014, 4:10 PM ET
Line: Los Angeles Angels (+175) at Seattle Mariners (-205); total: 7.0 – view all MLB lines
Betting on the Los Angeles Angels
[sc:MLB240banner ]The Angels have assured themselves of the no.1 seed in the American League no matter what happens tonight, but they sure don’t want to end their otherwise successful regular season in a series sweep, especially against a team which they have a chance of meeting in the AL Divison Series.
The Halos will head into the game later with relief pitcher Cory Rasmus (3-1, 2.38 ERA) set to make a rare starting appearance. The Angels have won in three of Rasmus’ five starts thus far this season.
In Rasmus’ last start, he tossed four scoreless innings, giving up just one hit and striking out three in Los Angeles’ 2-1 loss to the lowly Texas Rangers. His performance, though, was enough to bring down his ERA to 2.38 from 2.57.
On offense, the Angels have experienced a drop in run production lately. They are only averaging 3.0 runs per game in their last five games, and it doesn’t look to be any better tonight with Felix Hernandez on the mound.
But if there’s one Angel who could say he can carry the team past Hernandez and back it up with numbers, then it has to be Mike Trout. The AL MVP candidate is 18-for-47 (.383) in his career against Hernandez with two homers and an OBP of 1.063. The Angels could also get some help from Howie Kendrick and Gordon Beckham, who are batting .333 and .357, respectively, over the Angels’ last five games.
Betting on the Seattle Mariners
Seattle (86-75) needs a win and an Oakland loss later or else the Mariners can kiss their hopes of playing in the wild card game goodbye. And there’s no better pitcher in the Mariners’ rotation to start under the same situation than Felix Hernandez (14-6, 2.18 ERA), who has a chance of winning the league ERA title later against Los Angeles.
Hernandez has been dominant throughout the season, but is coming off an uncharacteristic poor outing in the Mariners’ 10-2 loss against the Toronto Blue Jays last September 23rd.
Hernandez gave up eight runs on seven hits in that game before being mercifully pulled out from the game by manager Lloyd McClendon in the fourth inning. He can bounce back strong later against the Angels, against whom he has a 2-0 record with a 0.94 ERA this season.
But just in case Hernandez hasn’t truly recovered from that humbling loss, the Mariners’ offense should have their ace’s back. One of the reliable bats this week for Seattle belongs to Logan Morrison, who is 5-for-12 (.417) with two home runs in the Mariners’ last three games. There’s also Michael Saunders, who is 5-for-14 (.357) and has team-best numbers of .929 SLG and 1.366 OPS over the last five games.
