Middling Mariners, Orioles Get set for Four-Game Set
The Seattle Mariners and Baltimore Orioles have both been hovering around .500 to start the season. That’s not too bad considering the betting lines for their regular season win totals projected that both teams would finish with losing records.
The two sides will meet for four games this season, starting on Monday. Let’s take a closer look the current pitching matchups that we are slated to see and see which team might have the edge in terms of the baseball odds.
Monday, April 12th – 7:05 p.m. ET
The Monday matchup is a contest of two pitchers who have ERA’s well over 7.00. Justus Sheffield will be on the bump for the Mariners and he is fresh off a rough outing. He lasted 5.0 innings against the Chicago White Sox last Monday, giving up eight hits and six runs, although only four of them were earned. The Mariners ended up losing 6-0. In total, he allowed 10 runners in just five innings of work, which means he was in trouble almost every single inning. He’ll have to get better this time around.
As for the O’s, they’ll put Dean Kremer on the hill. He’s also only made one start this season and similar to Sheffield, the results were not good. He lasted only 3.0 innings in a loss to the New York Yankees last Tuesday. He coughed up five hits – one of which was a home run – and four walks in that short span.
Give how these two have pitched so far, you might consider going with the over for your MLB picks.
Tuesday, April 13th – 7:05 p.m. ET
The Tuesday matchup between the teams will see Nick Margevicius of the Mariners going up against John Means of the Orioles. Both pitchers have made two appearances and both have performed quite differently.
Margevicius will enter Tuesday’s game with an ugly 7.71 ERA, although that doesn’t tell the whole story. He has a 1.07 WHIP, which is quite respectable, so something clearly is off. He’s a reliever who has made two appearances to date. His first was a perfect inning of work against the San Francisco Giants. His second outing was a disaster as he gave up four hits, four runs and a pair of home runs in hist 3.2 innings of work against the Chicago White Sox. Clearly, the main issue for him is the home runs. If he can avoid those, the peripherals – like his WHIP – are actually decent.
As for Means, he is 1-0 on the year but the O’s are 2-0 in games where he’s played. His first start was a gem, going 7.0 innings while giving up just one hit, no runs and no walks against the Boston Red Sox. He also started against the New York Yankees and went 4.2 innings while giving up seven hits but just one earned run. He’s pitched really well, which is why the O’s will be favored in this contest.
Wednesday, April 14th – 7:05 p.m. ET
On Wednesday, we’ll see the Mariners send Justin Dunn to the mound and he’s coming of an unreliable outing. He’s only made one start this year and gave up three earned runs in 4.2 innings of work. He actually only coughed up one hit, so you might be wondering how he allowed three earned runs on one hit. It’s because he walked eight batters – yes, eight – in just 4.2 innings of work.
As for the O’s, they’ll turn to Matt Harvey, who has already made a pair of starts this season. The former New York Mets ace has been uneven as his 5.59 ERA shows. He last 4.2 innings in his first start against Boston, giving up six hits and a pair of earned runs. In his second start – also against Boston – he gave up four earned runs on seven hits in 5.0 innings of work.
Thursday, April 15th – 1:30 p.m. ET
The Thursday matchup will be a day game with Marco Gonzalez going for the Mariners against Bruce Zimmermann for the Orioles.
Gonzalez has started twice so far this season and he’s been pounded by opposing batters. The San Francisco Giants touched him up for five runs and eight hits in 6.0 innings of work while the Minnesota Twins rocked him for nine hits and seven earned runs in 4.1 innings of work. His main issue is home runs as he’s already given up a whopping five in two starts.
As for Zimmermann, he’s been more reliable. He’s posted back-to-back quality starts, going 6.0 innings in each while giving up exactly three earned runs and one home run in each. He still has a somewhat lofty 4.50 ERA but his 1.08 WHIP is quite reasonable.
