Seattle Mariners Get Dreadful News in Battle For American League West Crown
The scoreboard-watching Seattle Mariners just suffered some brutal news on Friday.
Kansas City Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino suffered a broken thumb on Thursday night and is out six-to-eight weeks.
Vinnie Pasquantino has a broken right thumb, and further tests are scheduled today. He could return in six to eight weeks.
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) August 30, 2024
That's a huge deal to the Mariners, because the Royals play the Houston Astros three more times over the weekend. With Pasquantino and his 97 RBIs out for the remainder of the regular season, those games become harder for Kansas City to win - which Seattle desperately needs.
The Mariners enter play on Friday night at 68-66 on the year. They are 4.0 games behind the Astros in the American League West race and need Houston to lose at every turn imaginable if they are going to capture the West for the first time since 2001. Of course, they wouldn't need to be scoreboard watching if they hadn't blown a 10.0 game division lead since June 19....
Houston came back to beat Kansas City, 6-3, on Thursday night. Those two teams will play again on Friday with first pitch coming at 8:10 p.m. ET.
As for the Mariners, they'll be back in action on Friday after a Thursday off-day. They'll begin a 10-game road trip in Anaheim against the Los Angeles Angels. First pitch in that contest is set for 6:38 p.m. PT. The Mariners will send right-hander George Kirby to the mound against right-hander Carson Fullmer.
The M's have lost six of their last seven games against the Angels this year, but they have won four of their last six overall. They most recently took a three-game set from the Tampa Bay Rays in Seattle.
They are 4-2 under new manager Dan Wilson.
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