Seattle Mariners start crucial road trip in Texas on June 2
Chip Clark
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The Seattle Mariners will be on the road to face three tough opponents Texas, San Diego, and Anaheim. Two of the three are division rivals.
After a successful 7-3 home stand, the Seattle Mariners are back on the road for 8 games over the next 10 days. It’s a crucial stretch, as two of their three series are against division opponents not located in Oakland.
On Friday evening, the M’s are in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex to take on AL West-leading Texas. They currently trail the Rangers by 6.5 games, so this is a good chance to make up ground.
Over the last 30 days, Seattle “raised” their season batting average to .228 after batting a robust .240 in that period. But they are starting to hit the long ball with 16 home runs in the last 13 games (9th in MLB).
They face a pitching staff almost as stingy as their own. Hopefully, the Seattle Mariners don’t continue another trend, hacking at pitches like Pedro Cerrano trying to hit a curve ball.
Wednesday night, the M’s struck out 13 times against the ”daunting” trio of Clarke Schmidt, Wandy Peralta, and Clay Holmes. That brought their season total to a third-highest 541 this season. A little more contact would help.
On the bright side, 2022 American League Rookie of the Year Julio Rodriguez is on a roll, following some early season struggles. Since his disappointing 1-for-12 with 6 strikeouts series the last time Seattle faced Texas in early May, JRod is hitting .321 with a .928 OPS with 16 RBI in 19 games.
Seattle Mariners at Texas Pitching Matchups
Friday, June 2, 5:05 PM PDT – Luis Castillo (4-2, 2.69 ERA) vs. John Gray (5-1, 2.81 ERA).
Saturday, June 3, 1:05 PM PDT – Marco Gonzales (4-1, 5.22 ERA ) vs. Andrew Heaney (4-3, 3.76 ERA ).
Sunday, June 4, 11:35 AM PDT – Bryce Miller (3-2, 3.00 ERA ) vs. Nathan Eovaldi (7-2, 2.42 ERA ).
Roster Moves
Reliever Matt Festa had a terrible start to the season. The M’s sent him down to Tacoma, where he was virtually unhittable in the last six weeks. He replaces Darren McCaughan, who was sent down after the Yankees game.
Seattle demoted Taylor Trammell and his .133 batting average to make room for another early season Tacoma star, Mike Ford. At the time of his call-up, Ford was tearing up Triple-A. He has a 302/.427/.605/1.032 slash line with 15 home runs and 56 RBI in 49 games.
Whats Next
After their series with Texas, the Seattle Mariners have a day off, followed by two games at Petco Park against underperforming San Diego. The road trip wraps up next weekend with three games in Anaheim.
According to Mariners President of Baseball Operations, Jerry Dipoto, the M’s should get utility man Dylan Moore and flame-throwing reliever Andres Munoz back for San Diego Series beginning on Tuesday.