The Seattle Mariners will have a chance to extend their division lead this week when they take on the Athletics in a three-game series. It will be Seattle's first trip to the A's temporary home of West Sacramento, Calif.
The Mariners are coming off their eighth-consecutive series win, which came against the Texas Rangers, over the weekend. Seattle enters Monday with a 20-13 record — two games ahead of the Athletics, three ahead of the Houston Astros and four up on the Rangers in the division. The Mariners could gain a strong foothold in first place in the AL West, or continue to engage in an early-season tug-of-war for the division depending on how the three games go.
Here's the upcoming pitching matchups for the series between Seattle and the Athletics.
Monday, May 5— Bryce Miller (Seattle) vs. Luis Severino (Athletics)
Bryce Miller hasn't drawn a good card in terms of health this season. He dealt with soreness throughout his first five starts this year and failed to go longer than 5.2 innings in any of his outings. He entered his last start against the Los Angeles Angels on April 29 healthy, but back tightness sprung up in pregame warmups and persisted through the game.
Miller still put together one of his best outings of the season. He pitched five innings and struck out six batters. He allowed two hits and no runs. The only negative was his unusual number of walks (five).
Miller will face Luis Severino — the A's Opening Day starter, and owner of the largest contract in franchise history.
Severino has two quality starts in his last three turns. He pitched five innings against the Texas Rangers on April 30, fanned four, walked one and allowed one earned run on eight hits.
Tuesday, May 6 — Emerson Hancock (Seattle) vs. Jeffrey Springs (Athletics)
Hancock has bounced back after a disappointing start to the season and has strung together three solid starts in a row (two consecutive quality starts) since he was brought back up from the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers on April 17.
He pitched six innings in his last start against the Angels on April 30. He struck out four, walked three and allowed three earned runs on nine hits (one home run).
Springs has been arguably the most unlucky pitcher in the American League this season. He is holding batters to a .242 opposing batting average and has fanned 28 batters in 34.1 innings pitched across seven starts. He's allowed home runs at an eye-popping rate, which is one of Seattle's strengths.
Springs has allowed a homer in five of seven starts this year.
In his last start against Texas on May 1, Springs pitched six innings, struck out one, walked one and allowed no earned runs on two hits.
The Mariners entered Monday fourth in the major leagues and second in the AL in home runs (49).
Wednesday, May 7 — Bryan Woo (Seattle) vs. Gunnar Hoglund (Athletics)
Bryan Woo etched the latest entry in his All-Star caliber season against the Rangers on May 2. He pitched 6.1 innings, struck out eight and allowed one hit. Woo has gone six innings or longer in all six of his starts this season. Only one of his starts hasn't been quality.
Hoglund made his major league debut against the Miami Marlins on May 2 and had an incredible first impression. He pitched six innings, fanned seven and allowed one earned run on one hit (one home run). He became the first Athletics pitcher since 1943 to not walk a batter in six innings while allowing one run in his major league debut.
There's still much more baseball in front than behind this season, but the upcoming series between the A's and Seattle could have major ripple effects on the division for the rest of the year.
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