The Seattle Mariners (82-67) are on the road to face the Kansas City Royals (61-89) at Ewing M. Kauffman Stadium on Friday to open a three-game series. The Mariners are kicking off the final series of their 10-game road trip. They won only one out of three in their last series against the Athletics, taking the finale 9-5 on Thursday at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Jarred Kelenic was 2 for 3 with a home run and a double. He scored two runs and had two RBIs. The Royals are in the midst of a six-game homestand. They are coming off a three-game sweep of the Twins, taking the finale 4-1 on Thursday at Ewing M. Kauffman Stadium. Edward Olivares went 1 for 3 with a solo home run. Drew Waters added a solo home run.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
The Mariners have won all three games this season between the teams, including a 5-4 victory in 12 innings in their most recent meeting on April 24 at T-Mobile Park. Reliever Yohan Ramirez threw one scoreless inning to get the win.
ON THE MOUND
Marco Gonzales (10-14, 4.01 ERA) is in line to start for Seattle. The southpaw allowed five runs over 6.1 innings in his last start, a 5-1 road defeat against the Angels on Sunday. He took the loss, giving up seven hits while striking out four and walking two. Gonzales is making his first appearance against the Royals this season. Gonzales made one start against the Royals in 2021, a 4-3 home victory on August 29. He surrendered two runs on five hits over seven innings, striking out four and walking two. Righty Brady Singer (9-4, 3.07 ERA) will toe the rubber for Kansas City. He has made one prior appearance against the Mariners this season, holding opposing hitters scoreless over 0.2 innings in a 4-1 road defeat on April 22. He didn’t give up a hit and struck out one in the no-decision. In his last start on Saturday, Singer got the win on the road against the Red Sox. He threw six scoreless innings and gave up five hits, striking out five and walking one in the 9-0 victory.
AT THE PLATE
The Seattle offense is averaging 4.2 runs per game for the season, with a slash line of .227/.311/.388. Julio Rodriguez leads the team in OPS at .840. The center fielder is slashing .279/.341/.499 with 27 home runs, 73 RBIs, and 81 runs over 129 games. Against righties like Singer this season, the M’s have a .696 OPS. Rodriguez also is the team’s most potent producer against right-handers with a .850 OPS in 382 at-bats. Kansas City is slashing .243/.306/.377 for the season and averaging 3.9 runs per game. Bobby Witt Jr. leads the team with a .729 OPS. The shortstop has 20 home runs, 76 RBIs, and 77 runs scored with a slash line of .252/.292/.437. Kansas City is averaging 5.2 runs per game in the last five with an improved slash line (.305/.346/.486). The Royals have a .719 OPS against lefties in 2022. With a .755 OPS over 129 at-bats, Witt Jr. also has been their best hitter against left-handers.
HOME AND AWAY
Seattle is 43-35 away from T-Mobile Park in 2022, scoring 4.5 runs per game while allowing 3.9 runs. Kansas City has won four in a row at Ewing M. Kauffman Stadium. The Royals are 37-41 at home this season, averaging 4.0 runs per game while surrendering 4.9. In the last 10 games between the teams at Ewing M. Kauffman Stadium, Seattle is 8-2 with an average scoreline of 5.8-4.5.
STANDINGS UPDATE
The Mariners are second in the AL West, 17 games behind the division-leading Astros. They currently occupy one of the Wild Card spots, sitting third with a magic number of zero. The Royals are fourth in the AL Central, 22 games behind the Guardians.
SportsTips’ MLB Pick:
Seattle Mariners
Want up to a $1K risk free bet for this pick?
Claim with 
today!
If you need more news, information and predictions, head over to our MLB hub page for all your baseball needs!
*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
