Pitching Matchups Revealed For Crucial Series Between Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers
The Seattle Mariners salvaged game three of a three-game set on Thursday afternoon against the New York Yankees by winning 3-2.
With the win, Seattle wrapped up its nine-game homestand at 5-4. They are now 78-75 and are holding onto some very fleeting playoff hopes.
With just nine games left to play, Seattle is 5.0 games back in the American League West and 2.0 games back in the wild card. That said, they don't have the tiebreaker over the Minnesota Twins or Detroit Tigers, who are tied for the final wild card spot, meaning they are effectively three back.
The Mariners will start a new series on Friday night against the Texas Rangers in Arlington. Seattle just took three-of-four from Texas last weekend at T-Mobile Park.
As for the pitching matchups this weekend, here they are from @TXRangersPR:
Probable pitching matchups for this weekend’s series vs. Seattle:
Fri: RHP Jacob deGrom vs. RHP George Kirby
Sat: RHP Max Scherzer vs. RHP Emerson Hancock
Sun: LHP Andrew Heaney vs. RHP Bryan Woo
Probable pitching matchups for this weekend’s series vs. Seattle:
— Texas Rangers PR (@TXRangersPR) September 19, 2024
Fri: RHP Jacob deGrom vs. RHP George Kirby
Sat: RHP Max Scherzer vs. RHP Emerson Hancock
Sun: LHP Andrew Heaney vs. RHP Bryan Woo
That's a tough draw for Seattle on multiple fronts. Though the Rangers have a record of just 73-80, running out deGrom and Scherzer will always be a tough assignment for an offense. deGrom made his first start of the year against the M's last Friday, giving up just four hits in 3.2 innings. He threw 61 pitches in that outing as he comes back from injury and will figure to have a longer leash this time out.
Scherzer will also be on a pitch count again on Saturday, but if both deGrom and Scherzer can give the Rangers five or six solid innings, that makes those games exponentially harder for Seattle to win.
Furthermore, the Mariners won't be able to pitch Luis Castillo, who is out with a hamstring injury. They also won't have Logan Gilbert at their disposal, meaning this is not a series that sets up in their favor matchup-wise.
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