Alright, here we go. T-Mobile Park, known more for its pitchers than its batters, will be hosting our Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners match. So, maybe the grass is always greener on this side, fellas.
Between the mounds, we've got Andrew Heaney sweating it out for the Rangers, coming in with a decent 4.04 ERA, and more importantly, he's offering batters a 'hands across the plate' at a rate of 9.7 K/9. On the flip side, George Kirby for the Mariners, while sporting a slightly higher ERA of 4.10, is a bit stingy with a whip of just 1.15. They say in baseball you have to give, to get. I guess George didn't get the memo.
Now let's talk shop, the Rangers have a few tricks up their line-up sleeve, with Nathaniel Lowe showing some promise with his .315 batting average and a decent 10 RBIs. Wyatt Langford also seems to be pulling up his socks with a batting average .286 and 17 RBIs, God bless the man for trying. The Mariners are not sitting ducks either. Victor Robles is knocking it out as if his bat's on fire with a whopping .395 average and Luke Raley isn't far behind with a solid .292 and six home run to his credit. It's like comparing apples to slightly better apples.
Peeking at history, it looks like the Mariners had a slight edge over the Rangers in their previous meetings with 4 wins out of 5. I must say the Mariners have quite the home field advantage, the hospitality must be choking the competition. Surely gives them the confidence with a 76-73 season record against the Rangers' not-so-impressive 71-78.
Recently, both teams are playing hot and cold with their performances, like a bad Austin Powers impersonation. But the Mariners do seem to be maintaining the upper fin in the sea of wins.
Here's the score folks, considering the Mariners' slight edge in Not-December, their superior form at the plate and on the pitcher's mound, and their historical trump card over the Rangers, I'd say Seattle is going to be the place to be.
Albert’s Prediction: Seattle Mariners by 2