Mariners open 4-game series at home against Minnesota

Minnesota Twins (27-15, first in the AL Central) vs. Seattle Mariners (22-23, second in the AL West)

Seattle; Thursday, 10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Twins: Michael Pineda (2-3, 5.85 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 35 strikeouts) Mariners: Erik Swanson (2-4, 6.35 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 21 strikeouts)

BOTTOM LINE: Minnesota hits the road to begin a four game series against Seattle.

The Mariners are 9-11 on their home turf. The Seattle pitching staff owns a team ERA of 4.78, Marco Gonzales paces the staff with a mark of 3.18.

The Twins are 12-7 in road games. Minnesota has slugged .495, good for first in in the MLB. Jorge Polanco leads the team with a .624 slugging percentage, including 25 extra-base hits and eight home runs. This is the first game between these teams in 2019.

TOP PERFORMERS: Mitch Haniger leads the Mariners with 24 extra base hits and is batting .231. Edwin Encarnacion is 6-for-35 with a double, three home runs and seven RBIs over the last 10 games for Seattle.

Eddie Rosario leads the Twins with 13 home runs home runs and is slugging .532. Polanco is 16-for-38 with three doubles, a triple, three home runs and eight RBIs over the last 10 games for Minnesota.

LAST 10 GAMES: Mariners: 4-6, .228 batting average, 5.46 ERA, outscored by 12 runs

Twins: 7-3, .289 batting average, 2.90 ERA, outscored opponents by 27 runs

Mariners Injuries: Sam Tuivailala: 10-day IL (achilles), Hunter Strickland: 60-day IL (lat), Wade LeBlanc: 10-day IL (oblique), Felix Hernandez: 10-day IL (shoulder), Gerson Bautista: 10-day IL (pectoral), Kyle Seager: 60-day IL (hand), Dylan Moore: 10-day IL (wrist), Dee Gordon: day-to-day (wrist).

Twins Injuries: Addison Reed: 10-day IL (thumb), Martin Perez: day-to-day (foot), Adalberto Mejia: 10-day IL (calf), Nelson Cruz: day-to-day (wrist), Mitch Garver: 10-day IL (ankle).