The Mariners won the series-opener on Monday night, 6-4, to tally their third-straight victory, and fifth in their last seven games. Robinson Cano played the hero for the Ms, as broke the deadlock in the ninth inning courtesy of a two-RBI double.
Cano has been mostly off since their return from the All-Star break, but now that he has consecutive decent outings (3-for-6 with three RBIs and one run), it may be time to expect a nice stretch. He, along with Kyle Seager and Jean Segura, who are on an eight and seven-game hitting streak, respectively, will be the Mariners to keep an eye on in the days to come. Hot-and-cold slugger Nelson Cruz may also be there, with the veteran having three hits with one home run, four RBIs, and four runs in his last three games.
For the defense, Seattle will be inserting the newly-acquired Erasmo Rodriguez (4-3, 4.80 ERA), who they got from the Tampa Bay Rays. He hasn’t allowed a run or a hit in his two previous innings against the Rangers, but got punished for four runs on six hits (one homer) in their meeting back in May 29th.
Seattle has won seven of their 10 meetings with Texas this season.
A lot is again messy on the Rangers’ side, particularly on defense. Monday night’s defeat was the their fourth in five games, and they are also allowing 11 hits and five runs per contest in that span (9.25 ERA).
Don’t expect Tueday’s projected starter, Nick Martinez, who has a 3-3 card with a 4.56 ERA on the year, to make things better. The 26-year-old has given up four runs on 10 hits and four walks in his last 5.2 innings, and he’s been blasted for two or more home runs in six of his 14 appearances this season.
The hope that the entire offense will finally wake up against the Mariners should be up in smoke now too. Although Adrian Beltre and Rougned Odor showed last night why they are the team’s hottest batters as of late, the whole unit fell flat – they came in with an awful .208 batting average versus the Ms this season, and they were somehow able to make it worse, as they only tallied .189 (6-for-32) for the evening.
