AL West Division foes will battle on Thursday afternoon, when the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics wrap up a three-game set. The Mariners have won five straight games and are ten games above .500 overall. Last night, SP Marco Gonzales struck out six batters over seven frames during a 1-0 victory. Seattle trails Houston by two games for the division lead.
Thirty-two year old righty Felix Hernandez (5-3 5.53 ERA) will make his 11th start of the season for the Mariners. Last time out, Hernandez gave up three runs over six frames during a 5-4 victory versus Detroit.
The Oakland Athletics have scored just two runs over the first two games of this series and are a game above .500 overall. On Wednesday, the Athletics scratched together just three hits in defeat. SP Daniel Gossett (0-2) allowed just one unearned run and struck out five batters over seven innings.
Twenty-six year old year old southpaw Sean Manaea (5-4 2.71 ERA) will head to the hill for the Athletics. Through 66 plus innings, Manaea has struck out 51 batters and owns a sparkling 0.86 WHIP.
