The Mariners and Rangers matchup in a critical AL West showdown this weekend.
After a less than emphatic series win over the White Sox, the Mariners will host the Rangers this weekend in what could be a pivotal series in the division standings. By starting Emerson Hancock yesterday and pushing the rest of the rotation back a day, the M’s have shown how serious they’re taking this series; they can talk publicly about giving their starters an extra day of rest but lining up their three best starters in this critical series just happens to be a nice coincidence too. A series loss won’t hurt Seattle’s chances of winning the division that much but a series win could really bury the Rangers and give the M’s a huge lead in the AL West. This really is desperation time for
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At a Glance
| Rangers | Mariners |
|---|---|
| Game 1 | Friday, June 14 | 7:10 pm |
| LHP Andrew Heaney | RHP Luis Castillo |
| 43% | 57% |
| Game 2 | Saturday, June 15 | 4:15 pm |
| RHP Nathan Eovaldi | RHP George Kirby |
| 46% | 54% |
| Game 3 | Sunday, June 16 | 1:10 pm |
| RHP Dane Dunning | RHP Logan Gilbert |
| 43% | 57% |
After a dismal May, the Rangers have been a tiny bit better in June, particularly after their surprising series win over the Dodgers earlier this week. Their biggest issues haven’t stemmed from their patchwork rotation but from their offense; since scoring 12 runs against the A’s on May 8, Texas has scored more than 4 runs in a game just six times in that stretch of 29 games. There have been a few injuries to key players in their lineup, but for the most part, too many of their key contributors from the best offense in the AL last year are having trouble replicating that success this season. Their pitching staff has held up their end of the bargain the team made to start this season with their best starters on the IL, but they’ve been sunk by their surprisingly feeble offense.
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Rangers Lineup
| Player | Position | Bats | PA | K% | BB% | ISO | wRC+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marcus Semien | 2B | R | 303 | 13.9% | 8.6% | 0.175 | 113 |
| Corey Seager | SS | L | 254 | 17.3% | 12.2% | 0.213 | 134 |
| Adolis García | RF | R | 271 | 26.6% | 6.6% | 0.200 | 90 |
| Josh Smith | 3B | L | 241 | 18.7% | 8.7% | 0.143 | 137 |
| Nathaniel Lowe | 1B | L | 189 | 20.6% | 13.8% | 0.075 | 103 |
| Wyatt Langford | LF | R | 180 | 21.1% | 7.8% | 0.079 | 75 |
| Jonah Heim | C | S | 237 | 19.0% | 5.5% | 0.108 | 75 |
| Ezequiel Duran | DH | R | 154 | 22.7% | 5.2% | 0.076 | 88 |
| Leody Taveras | CF | S | 244 | 18.4% | 8.6% | 0.113 | 75 |
The core trio of Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, and Adolis García are all suffering through down seasons this year. Seager has picked up his production recently, but he’s been hampered by a nagging hamstring injury and has played just once in the last week. It’s pretty telling that Josh Smith has the highest wRC+ on the team right now — all credit to Smith who tweaked his swing over the offseason and has reaped the rewards.
Andrew Heaney’s success has always ebbed and flowed with his ability to keep the ball inside the yard.
Heaney has been pretty effective this year despite a 2-7 win-loss record. In his last outing against the Mariners, he allowed four runs in six innings, striking out seven.
