Mariners try for series sweep over Texas

Published

Texas Rangers (12-13, fourth in the AL West) vs. Seattle Mariners (18-11, first in the AL West)

Seattle; Saturday, 9 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Rangers: Mike Minor (2-2, 3.21 ERA, .98 WHIP, 26 strikeouts) Mariners: Mike Leake (2-2, 4.30 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 25 strikeouts)

BOTTOM LINE: Seattle will sweep the series over Texas with a win.

The Mariners are 9-4 against the rest of their division. Seattle has hit a league-leading 58 home runs this season. Jay Bruce leads the club with nine, averaging one every nine at-bats.

The Rangers have gone 9-11 against division opponents. The Texas pitching staff as a whole has an ERA of 5.91. Mike Minor leads the team with a 3.21 earned run average. The Mariners won the last meeting 5-4. Roenis Elias earned his second victory and Edwin Encarnacion went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs for Seattle. Kyle Dowdy took his first loss for Texas.

TOP PERFORMERS: Mitch Haniger leads the Mariners with 19 extra base hits and is batting .248. Omar Narvaez is 10-for-30 with a double, three home runs and seven RBIs over the last 10 games for Seattle.

Joey Gallo leads the Rangers with eight home runs and is batting .262. Shin-Soo Choo is 11-for-37 with five doubles, a triple, a home run and three RBIs over the last 10 games for Texas.

LAST 10 GAMES: Mariners: 5-5, .225 batting average, 3.94 ERA, outscored opponents by eight runs

Rangers: 4-6, .245 batting average, 6.44 ERA, outscored by 18 runs

Mariners Injuries: Sam Tuivailala: 10-day IL (achilles), Hunter Strickland: 60-day IL (lat), Wade LeBlanc: 10-day IL (oblique), Gerson Bautista: 10-day IL (pectoral), Kyle Seager: 60-day IL (hand).

Rangers Injuries: Edinson Volquez: 60-day IL (elbow), Drew Smyly: 10-day IL (arm), Yohander Mendez: 60-day IL (elbow), Taylor Hearn: 10-day IL (elbow), Luke Farrell: 60-day IL (jaw), Scott Heineman: 60-day IL (shoulder), Ronald Guzman: 10-day IL (hamstring), Asdrubal Cabrera: day-to-day (calf).