Runs Will Be Hard To Come By In This Divisional Showdown

Mariners at Rangers, 8:05 ET

A while ago Major League Baseball changed the way they did their schedule. The purpose of it was mostly to just make sure that all teams were playing each other every year. The antiquated scheduling of having only a few Interleague Play games made no sense any longer. They also made sure everyone was playing everyone within their own division even more. Or, perhaps not more, but roughly an equal amount of times. Some divisions are going to be up for grabs, and others will be locked away as the season winds down, but games like today between the Mariners and Rangers will certainly play part of the story about who wins and who loses.

The Mariners come into today's game trailing the Astros for the division lead, but they are at least in second place. They have a winning record, and have some reason to believe they could be one of the better teams in the American League. their biggest issue last year was their hitting, which has been addressed and improved significantly. Cal Raleigh looks like he could be an MVP candidate (he won't win unless Aaron Judge goes down). The team is still pitching well, but I wouldn't mark them as the top staff in the league like I had them last year. This season, the collective ERA is close to four runs per game. Part of that has been injuries, and Logan Gilbert is one who was hurt and is now back. Gilbert has made two starts since his injury and is probably ready to go full speed ahead. He has thrown a total of 10 innings since returning and allowed six earned runs. In fairness, against the Cubs, the wind was blowing out, and it was a really hot day. He did make one start against Texas this year, allowing three hits, one run on a homer, and striking out seven in five innings of work. 

Logan Gilbert of the Seattle Mariners takes on the Philadelphia Phillies tonight. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)

The Rangers are not fairing very well themselves this season. They are in fourth place in their division when they should be higher. The Athletics will be the worst team, but they probably should be outperforming the Angels. I'm not sure what has changed since their World Series run, but the team just isn't hitting the way they did that year. There really is no one else to blame because the Rangers pitching has been awesome. They are essentially what the Mariners were last season - a great pitching staff, no hitting. As a team, the Rangers are at just .228 for the year. Today they have one of their two aces take the mound, Nathan Eovaldi. Be warned about this, he is coming back from injury so he may get scratched here. Eovadli is 4-3 for the season with a 1.56 ERA and a 0.81 WHIP. He has not pitched since May 27th, and I do expect the club to be a bit cautious with him. He took one of his losses earlier in the season against the Mariners, allowing two earned runs on five hits in five innings. 

This game shouldn't see a ton of runs. With Gilbert on the mound, I fully expect the Rangers to continue their hitting woes. If Eovaldi can make three to five innings, the Rangers should have a good chance to keep the Mariners off the board. The bullpens are both talented enough to hold this game to a very low score. Back the under here in the divisional matchup.  

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