The Seattle Mariners travel to Oakland on Friday for a three-game series with the A's. The Mariners are in the heat of the American League playoff race and currently hold one of the three wildcard slots in the American League playoffs. The Oakland A's, on the other hand, are in another race at the moment, the race for the fist pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. Oakland is in last place in the AL West and currently holds the 2nd worst record in all of baseball. The pitching matchup for Friday night's opener will feature lefty Marco Gonzalez (7-12, 4.18) of the Mariners taking on fellow left-hander Cole Irvin (6-10, 3.13) of the A's. First pitch is scheduled for 9:40pm EST.
The Mariners come into this series once again playing the kind of baseball that got them right back into the playoff picture prior to the all-star break. The Mariners are 7-3 in their last ten games and come off of a three-game sweep of the Angels, giving them their third series win in four tries. On Wednesday night in the series finale against the Angels, the Mariners out-slugged the Angels 11-7. Cal Raleigh had his first career multi-home run game and Eugenio Suárez and Jesse Winker each hit a two-run shot as the Mariners completed the sweep of the Angels. For the series, the Mariners scored 25 runs compared with just nine for the Angels. Seattle is now 65-54 on the season.
no days off for good vibes pic.twitter.com/e37USqQYlg
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) August 18, 2022
The Mariners seem to be regaining the form that made them one of the hottest teams in baseball in July. Now 11 games over .500, the Mariners are showing the power hitting and power pitching that made them such a threat just a month ago. The Mariners scored 25 times in the three wins over the Angels and hit six home runs while batting .255. On the mound, the Mariners had a 3.67 ERA in the series and struck out 37 Angels' hitters in the three-game sweep. Taking his turn on the mound on Friday night will be left-hander Marco Gonzales. Gonzales has an ERA of 6.52 in his last five games and is 2-3 in that span giving up 39 hits in just 29 innings worth of work. Gonzales is 2-1 in three starts against Oakland this season with a 4.42 ERA including 21 hits in 18 innings worth of work.