The Seattle Mariners head to Florida to open a four-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday.
The Mariners won their fifth straight on Tuesday 7-1 over the Houston Astros and stretched their lead in the American League West to two games over the Astros. Kyle Seager, Jean Segura and Mike Zunino each homered off Houston starter Dallas Keuchel and James Paxton pitched another strong game for surging Seattle.
Tampa Bay lost its fifth straight game on Tuesday falling to Washington 4-2. Thirteen Rays were struck out by Nationals ace Max Scherzer. Nathan Eovaldi took the loss and is now 1-1. He allowed four runs over five innings in just his second start following Tommy John surgery.
Jean Segura leads the Mariners with a .333 batting average and team high 80 hits. Mitch Haniger leads the team in home runs with 12 and RBIs with 43. Seattle has a team batting average of .257 while opposing hitters are averaging .240 at the plate against Mariners pitching. On Thursday, the Mariners will send Mike Leake to the mound. The right-hander this season is 5-3 with an ERA of 4.71, 47 Ks and 15 BBs.
Matt Duffy leads the Rays with a .309 batting average. C.J. Cron has the team lead in hits with 60, home runs with 12 and RBIs with 32. Tampa Bay has a team batting average of .256 while opposing hitters are averaging .227 at the plate against Rays pitching. Tampa Bay has not yet announced its starting pitcher for Thursday’s game with Seattle.
