Seattle will play the second game of its three-game series in Kansas City on Saturday night. The Mariners are coming off a series loss to Oakland, while the Royals swept Minnesota earlier this week. This story was published prior to Friday night’s series opener between Seattle and Kansas City.
Seattle was one of the hottest teams in baseball from the middle of August to the beginning of September, winning 14 games in an 18-game stretch. The Mariners have struggled with consistency since then, losing nine out of 15 games. They dropped three out of four on the road against the Angels before losing two out of three in Oakland earlier this week. Seattle is on a 10-game road trip that concludes on Sunday, which is when the Mariners will return home for their final 10 games of the regular season. They are four games ahead of Baltimore for the final American League Wild Card spot heading into Friday’s slate.
A star.
Also, the sun. pic.twitter.com/Yz0UGwmUlS
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) September 23, 2022
The Mariners have been a terrible offensive team this season, ranked No. 28 with a batting average of .228. Center fielder Julio Rodriguez leads the way with 140 hits, including 27 home runs. He missed Friday’s game due to a back injury, and he is questionable to play on Saturday. First baseman Ty France has 136 hits, while second baseman Adam Frazier has 121 hits. They are facing a Kansas City pitching staff that is No. 26 with an ERA of 4.67. Right-handed pitcher Logan Gilbert is going to start for Seattle on Saturday. He allowed one run on four hits and a walk across six innings against the Angels on Monday. Gilbert set season-highs in strikeouts (11) and whiffs (21), throwing five scoreless innings before allowing a sacrifice fly. He is 3-1 with a 0.78 ERA over his last four starts, and he holds a 3.13 ERA overall this season.