The Minnesota Twins play host to the Seattle Mariners in the finale of a three-game series from Target Field. The Mariners come in with a winning record but continue to sit in fourth-place in the AL West, while the Twins sit atop their own respective division. The first two games of this series saw a split between the two, while across six games on the season, each team has three wins as well. It has clearly been difficult to separate these two and there's little doubt that this has the makings of another great matchup.
The Mariners put together a historic second-half last season and will be aiming to do the same this year, as they continue to work their way back into the AL West race. Despite a winning record, they continue to sit in fourth-place in the division, though a 6-4 record over their last ten games has certainly helped moved things along. The road has been a challenge for them at times, especially with a losing record away from home, but with one win already under the belt in this series, they have the confidence to come out on Wednesday afternoon and try to take the series.
The Mariners will lean on Bryce Miller to lead the way in the series finale, as the righty looks to help Seattle secure the series. He enters this one with a 6-3 record and 3.50 ERA, both impressive. He's yet to face the Twins this season but is coming off of a run of impressive performances. In his last 10.1 innings of wo rk across two starts, he's allowed only one run, while he's failed to allow more than two runs only once since June 4th.
Seattle is hitting .230 as a team and the long ball has helped them work toward 4.6 runs per game. Injuries have had an impact of late though, especially as Jarred Kelenic (foot), AJ Pollock (hamstring), and Evan White (thigh) all remain out. JP Crawford (.261 average) sets the pace on a nightly basis, while the power will have to come from Teoscar Hernandez (16 homeruns) and Eugenio Suarez (60 RBI). Over the last week, Julio Rodriguez has three home runs and if he continues to find his swing, this team will only become more and more dangerous.