Taijuan Walker (4-7, 3.66 ERA) and Tyler Skaggs (1-0, 0.00 ERA) take the hill in the second of a three-game series between the Seattle Mariners (55-53) and the Los Angeles Angels (49-60) at Safeco Field. The Mariners won the last game 6-4, and Seattle leads the series 1-0. Action begins at 9:10 p.m. ET on Saturday, Aug. 6 and can be seen on FSW and RTNW.
Walker pitched 4.0 innings in his last outing, surrendering five runs, striking out five and walking one in a 5-2 defeat to the Astros. Nelson Cruz (.279, 61 Rs, 27 HRs, 69 RBIs) went 1 for 5 yesterday with one run. Skaggs went 5.1 innings, surrendering zero runs, striking out eight and walking two in a 5-3 defeat to the Red Sox in his most recent start. Mike Trout (.316, 86 Rs, 20 HRs, 70 RBIs, 17 SBs) went 1 for 4 yesterday with one run, one home run, and three RBIs.
Seattle is a -118 favorite against Los Angeles and the Over/Under (O/U) for this game is sitting at eight runs. The Mariners have an overall money line of -452 and a record as the favorite of 29-29. Seattle has had a discouraging season against division opponents, earning records of 7-16 and 16-24 as the favorite and SU, respectively. The Mariners have seen a decline in scoring as of late, averaging 3.0 runs during the last 10 games compared to their season average of 4.6 runs per game.
Over in the other dugout, Los Angeles is coming in with an overall money line of -1,017 and a disappointing record of 25-38 as the underdog. They are 10-12 as the underdog against fellow AL West members, and 20-24 SU.
The Angels lead the season series, 4-3. The Mariners have a 15-24 record against left-handed starting pitchers on the year, which is what they’ll be facing when Skaggs takes the mound. Walker (RHP) will be on the hill against the Angels, who have a 34-43 record against right-handed starting pitchers.
Predictions: SU Winner – SEA, O/U – Over
Notes
When leading after seven innings, Seattle is 25-25, while Los Angeles is 20-30.
The Angels are coming off of a weak pitching game where they recorded three strikeouts. The Mariners have a record of 2-2 when opponents’ pitchers have three strikeouts or less.
When they outhit their opponents, the Angels are 40-10. The Mariners have a 42-9 record when outhitting opponents.
Both falling in the top half of the league based on total runs this season, Seattle ranks 13th with 503 runs and Los Angeles is 11th with 508.
Ranking 16th, Los Angeles is in the bottom half of the league in walks, notching 324 this season. Seattle ranks in the top half at 14th with 340.
The Mariners are 46-35 when they hit at least one home run. The Angels perform similarly when they hit one or more homers with a 35-32 record.
