The Seattle Mariners (10-15) and the Los Angeles Angels (11-14) were considered the teams to beat in the American League West back in the offseason. Both teams, however, haven’t been playing up to those expectations as they trail the surprising Houston Astros for the division’s top spot. Read on below as we preview this series opener between two of the league’s early underachievers.
Over at the NBA, the Golden State Warriors look to go 2-0 up in their series against the Memphis Grizzlies. Click here for a detailed preview of that game.
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Seattle Mariners vs. Los Angeles Angels Preview
Where: Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim
When: Monday, May 4, 2015, 10:05 PM ET
Line: Seattle Mariners (-137) vs. Los Angeles Angels (+127); total: 7.0–view all MLB lines
Betting on the Seattle Mariners
Perhaps having ace Felix Hernandez (4-0, 1.82 ERA) on the mound will help get the Mariners back on track after suffering a three-game sweep at the hands of the red-hot Houston Astros. The Mariners, who lost to Houston, 7-6, on Sunday, will give the ball to Hernandez when they take on the Angels tonight.
[sc:MLB240banner ]Hopefully for Seattle, King Felix will continue his domination of the Angels. Hernandez is 4-0 against them with an ERA of 0.88 in four starts since 2014. In addition, the Mariners are 6-0 in Hernandez’s last six starts against the Halos.
In Hernandez’s most recent start against LA, he tossed seven innings of one-run ball on just two hits, while striking out 10 batters in Seattle’s 4-1 win on April 6.
Behind Hernandez is an offense led by Nelson Cruz, who’s been on a tear this season. Nelson is currently the American League’s leader in home runs (13), RBIs (25), slugging percentage, (.788) and on-base plus slugging percentage (1.175). Nelson has also hit .429/.448/.964 over the Mariners’ last seven games—all tops among Seattle’s hitters during that stretch.
Similar to Seattle, the Angels will enter tonight’s series opener against the Mariners on the heels of a three-game losing streak. In their most recent outing, the Angels lost to the San Francisco Giants 5-0 on Sunday. A return to their league and their home could be just what the doctor ordered for the skidding Halos. LA is 3-1 in its last four home games.
On the mound for the Angels is Matt Shoemaker (2-1, 6.00 ERA). Shoemaker is having a shaky start to the season, giving up at least three runs in each of his four starts thus far this year. In his previous start (a 6-3 Angels win over the Oakland A’s on April 29), the right-hander pitched for 5.2 innings and surrendered three runs on six hits while only striking out three hitters.
With that said, the Angels’ hitters should continue to provide ample support for Shoemaker, who is having trouble finding the form that helped him become one of the top rookies last season. The Angels have given Shoemaker an average of 5.0 runs per nine innings pitched this season.
Speaking of offense, the Angels will definitely look for franchise player Mike Trout to deliver later tonight—that’s despite the fact that they’ll be facing last year’s AL Cy Young award runner-up in Hernandez. After all, Trout has hit well in his career against Hernandez, going 19-for-52 (.365) with three home runs and 12 RBIs off of Seattle’s ace.
