Take The Under Through Five Innings

Mariners vs. Phillies, 6:40 ET

If there are two teams that I have started the season off wrong about, it would be the Chicago White Sox and the Philadelphia Phillies. It is possible that the Cardinals and the Mariners also fall into this mix. Hell, even the Astros aren't doing as well, but I at least acknowledged the loss of Verlander and the World Series hangover could hurt them early. Let's look towards a play in the battle of the underperforming squads, the Mariners and the Phillies.

The Mariners are just 11-12 on the season which isn't great, but they have the capability to reel off a bunch of wins in a row. They have won three of their past four games and are looking to steal the second game from the Phillies and win the series. They haven't hit very well to start the season. They have 175 hits and 103 runs. The Phillies are on the opposite end of the spectrum - they have a lot of hits, 232 to be exact, but they only have 107 runs to show for the success. The Mariners are being supported by their pitching staff right now. Logan Gilbert takes the hill for them today, alternating good starts with decent ones. He has limited experience against the Phillies and allowed just three hits over 27 at-bats.

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

The Phillies were my pick to win the NL East. Well, in fairness, I thought they were a good value, not that they would win. There is still a lot of baseball to play, but up to this point, they haven't looked like the team that got to the World Series last season. I mentioned they aren't scoring runs, but if they keep hitting the way they are, they shouldn't have that much trouble scoring long-term. Their pitching needs to improve as well. Taijuan Walker is taking the ball for the Phillies. His first two starts were pretty short outings that weren't anything special, but his last two have been quality starts. He also has limited experience against opposing hitters but has gotten the best of them allowing just three hits in 22 at-bats.

I think this game is a bit of a coinflip, but what I really think is that the first five innings will be low scoring. Walker is a talented pitcher and Gilbert has shown flashes of strong performances all year long. Sure, at 4.5, there is a risk of getting hit hard in any given inning and the total blowing up in my face, but I'm going to back the under through five.

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