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Houston Astros vs. Seattle Mariners Preview: Expect the bats to stay quiet
Both the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners traveled to Houston last night in preparation for tonight's series beginning game. The Astros travel from Toronto, where they lost two of their three games to the Blue Jays. The Mariners are flying in from Miami, where they also lost two out of three against the Marlins. This matchup provides intriguing opportunities for profit.
Below, you will find a brief preview of each team followed by a prediction for tonight's game.
Houston Astros Preview:
"Stros strike first." - @ Houston Astros
Offensively, the Houston Astros have had obvious struggles to begin the MLB season. They find themselves ranked toward the bottom of the league in many offensive categories, including batting average and on-base percentage. The pitching staff has led the way for Houston thus far, as they are in the middle of the pack in staff ERA and batting average against.
Right-hander Jake Odorizzi will get the start for the Astros tonight, coming off his best performance of the season so far. Last outing, Odorizzi held a solid Texas Rangers offense to just one run in six innings of work. He will look to continue his momentum tonight in a revenge start vs. Seattle. In his second start, the Mariners roughed Odorizzi up for four runs in just over four innings. Since he has the sample size needed to make adjustments, he is in a good spot to deliver a quality start tonight.
Seattle Mariners Preview:
"Wrapping up the series with a dub." - @ Seattle Mariners
After an impressive homestand, the Seattle Mariners have dropped four out of their last five games. The offense ranks 11th in the MLB in team batting average and eighth in runs per game. However, the recent road trip has seen the Seattle offense struggle. The Mariners will look to fix some of those struggles tonight against the Houston Astros.
The Mariners will send Marco Gonzalez to the mound in Houston tonight. Gonzalez has had a roller-coaster start to the season. He exited his last start after just one out due to an injury, but has not given up more than two runs in any of his starts thus far. As a pitching staff, the Mariners hold the seventh best ERA in the MLB at 3.26. The Mariners left-hander will look to provide his second quality start of the season tonight.
Preview/Prediction: Under 9 (-120)
Targeting the game total here for a few reasons. One, both of these teams rank in the top 10 in the MLB in the bullpen ERA. This means that after their starters exit the game, their bullpen arms are producing at an efficient rate. Secondly, both of these offenses have had a tough time consistently producing runs as of late. Let's go with the game to stay under nine total runs!
