The Oakland Athletics (56-102) are on the road to face the Seattle Mariners (87-70) at T-Mobile Park on Sunday with the home team looking for a sweep of the three-game series. The Mariners lead the series 2-0 after winning 5-1 on Saturday, their 11th head-to-head victory in 18 games this season. Luis Castillo got the win, allowing one run on two hits over six innings and striking out eight. Luis Torrens went 1 for 3 with a double, one run, and one RBI in the win. Jordan Diaz was 1 for 2 with one RBI for the Athletics.
ON THE MOUND
James Kaprielian (4-9, 4.43 ERA) is in line to take the mound for Oakland. The righty allowed three runs over six innings in his last start, a 4-3 home defeat against the Angels on Tuesday. He yielded 10 hits while striking out five in the no-decision. Over five previous starts against the Mariners this season, Kaprielian has allowed 10 earned runs over 28.1 innings (2-1, 3.18). He has struck out 23 and walked 10.Left-hander Robbie Ray (12-11, 3.60 ERA) will toe the rubber for Seattle. He has made four appearances against the Athletics this season, all starts, giving up five runs over 24.2 innings (1-1, 1.82) with 35 strikeouts and eight walks. In his last start on Tuesday, Ray took the loss at home against the Rangers. He threw 5.2 innings and gave up two runs on six hits, striking out eight and walking two in the 5-0 defeat. The southpaw ranks fourth in the AL in strikeouts (209).
AT THE PLATE
Over the last five games, Oakland has averaged only 1.6 runs a game, down from their season average of 3.5, while performing worse across the board (.145/.202/.191). Against left-handed pitchers like Ray this season, the A’s have a .632 OPS, second lowest in MLB. Sean Murphy is the team’s strongest performer against left-handers with a .854 OPS in 128 at-bats. Seattle is averaging only 4.0 runs per game in the last five, down slightly from 4.2 for the season. The M’s have a .702 OPS against righties in 2022. With a .353 OBP over 383 at-bats, J.P. Crawford has their highest on-base percentage against right-handers.
HOME AND AWAY
Oakland is on a six-game losing streak away from Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, bringing their record to 30-50 in 2022. The A’s have scored 3.8 runs per game away from home, while allowing 4.6 runs. Seattle has won four in a row at their home park. The M’s are 43-33 at home this season, averaging 3.8 runs per game while surrendering 3.5. In the last 10 meetings at T-Mobile Park, Seattle is 7-3 with an average scoreline of 3.8-3.2.
STANDINGS UPDATE
The Athletics are fifth in the AL West, 46 games behind the division-leading Astros. The Mariners are second in the AL West, 15 games behind the Astros. They currently occupy one of the Wild Card spots, sitting second with a magic number of six.
SportsTips’ MLB Pick:
Seattle Mariners (-275)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
