It’s going to be an interesting pitching battle when the Seattle Mariners attempt their first sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays in 10 years. The Mariners’ Taijuan Walker looks to continue a strong start to the season after missing some time due to injury. Meanwhile, the Rays’ Chris Archer looks to get over his bad start after his recent strong outings.
Read on for everything you need to know heading into Wednesday afternoon’s intriguing game. For more on Major League action, check out our complete previews for the Padres vs. Cubs and Royals vs. Yankees.
Line: Tampa Bay Rays (-105) at Seattle Mariners (-105); total 7.0 – view all MLB lines
Betting on the Tampa Bay Rays (15-16)
Chris Archer (2-4, 4.23 ERA) has seeming found his form. He gave up 16 earned runs and walked 11 over 19 2/3 innings in losing his first four starts. But he’s been solid in his next three, allowing just two earned runs and 11 hits with six walks over 18 2/3 innings.
Archer allowed seven earned runs to lose his first two starts against the Mariners. Both were in 2013. In the past two years, he’s allowed only an unearned run over 21 1/3 innings, going 1-0 in three starts against Seattle. Archer struck out 23 in 15 innings over two starts against the Mariners last season.
At the plate, Tampa Bay will be looking for more production from Steve Pearce. He slugged two homers in Tuesday’s 6-4 loss. It was his fourth career multi-homer outing. He has gone deep four times in his last five games. The Rays could also rely on Hank Conger, who has gone 3 for 5 against Seattle’s Taijuan Walker in his career.
The Rays have won four of their last six on the road.
Betting on the Seattle Mariners (20-13)
Taijuan Walker (2-2, 1.97 ERA) is feeling healthy as he takes the ball after a neck injury halted his latest outing. He ranks among MLB’s leaders when it comes to ERA, but he allowed three runs before leaving after two innings in Friday’s 6-3 loss at Houston. Walker has lost back-to-back games after receiving zero runs of support while on the mound in his last two starts.
Walker has a run support average of 2.53, among the lowest in baseball. But his ability to keep opponents from batting in runs has helped the Mariners aplenty. He may be able to rely on his team this time around. Seattle has totaled 11 runs in the first two games of this series, setting up their first home sweep of Tampa Bay since 2006.
Franklin Gutierrez hit a two-run homer in the first inning of Tuesday’s 6-4 victory. Rookie Dae-Ho Lee hit a three-run shot as well. The Mariners have averaged 4.6 runs and hit 13 homers to win seven of their last nine at home. Robinson Cano could have a big outing going 21 for 44, hitting safely in all 10 games this May. But he’s 0 for 13 in his career against Tampa Bay’s Chris Archer.
The total has gone under in seven of the Mariners’ last 10 home games against Tampa Bay.
