The Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners are facing off in their last series before the MLB All-Star break, where each team will be represented by a single player each. Daniel Vogelbach will represent the Mariners, while Matt Chapman will be representing for Oakland. The first two games of this series have been split, as game one went to the Athletics 5-2 while Seattle took the second game 6-3.
Getting Hotter
The Oakland Athletics are 49-41 this season and 7.5 games back from the Houston Astros in the AL West. They are 7-3 in their last 10 games. They will be playing this game on the road, where they are 23-21 this season.
Daniel Mengden will be getting the start for Oakland in the finale of the series. Mengden got the win in his last outing in Oakland’s win over the Twins despite giving up five runs over five innings. The 26-year-old is now 3-1 this season with a 4.67 ERA and 29 strikeouts. He got just two starts in June where he had one no-decision and one win, in which he posted a shutout over six innings.
The Athletics’ offense has been lifted this year by third baseman Chapman, who leads the team in home runs with 21 and runs batted in with 52. Their 28-year-old shortstop Marcus Semien currently leads the team in batting average with .267. Semien also has 13 home runs and 47 RBI.
Maybe Next Year
The Seattle Mariners are 39-54 this season and behind Oakland in the AL West in last place. They are also 13 games back from a Wild Card spot, meaning they have a lot of work to do if they want to play in October this season. Seattle is 3-7 over its last 10 games after winning their last outing against the Athletics. Even though Seattle is at home in this game, it doesn’t seem like much of an advantage with their 19-28 home record this year.
Look for 26-year-old rightfielder Domingo Santana to lead the rush for the Mariners’ offense. Santana currently leads the team with his .286 batting average and 63 runs batted in. In their last game against Oakland, Santana went 3-for-4 while picking up a stolen base and two runs scored. Going up against a strong pitcher in this next game, Seattle will need more than just their top batters to get the job done if they want to keep up.
What to expect
While Mengden doesn’t have numbers that jump off the page, he has been solid this season and should be able to hold his own against this last place Mariners ball club. The good news for the Athletics is that they have not lost back-to-back games since June 8 when they faced the Rangers. Look for the Athletics’ pitching to keep them in this game from start to finish and for them to take the win.
