On Monday, the Seattle Mariners open a short two-game series on the road against American League West rival the Oakland Athletics. Seattle is 66-58 following a 15-1 loss to the Houston Astros on Saturday. Seattle has scored just four runs in the first two games of their current three-game series with Houston while allowing 27 runs. The Mariners are third in the American League West 7 ½ games behind first place Houston.
Ty France is batting .291 to lead Seattle and the infielder has team highs in hits with 124 and on-base percentage at .362. Third baseman Kyle Seager is the leader in home runs with 28 and RBIs with 79. As a team, Seattle has hit 155 home runs in 124 games. On Monday, Seattle will send Marco Gonzales to the mound. The left-hander is 5-5 with an ERA of 4.10, 77 Ks and 30 BBs.
Oakland dropped to 70-54 following a disappointing 6-5 loss to the San Francisco Giants on Saturday. The Oakland bullpen gave up a pinch-hit home run in the ninth inning at home to suffer the loss. Oakland is second in the American League West 3 ½ games behind the first-place Houston Astros. The Athletics have lost five of the last seven.
Matt Olson is batting .276 to lead Oakland and the first baseman has team highs in home runs with 31, RBIs with 81, hits with 118 and on-base percentage at .374. As a team, Oakland has hit 155 home runs in 124 games. On Monday, Oakland will send Paul Blackburn to the mound. The right-hander is 0-1 with an ERA of 5.06, 3 Ks and 3 BBs.
