The Texas Rangers will play a series against the Seattle Mariners for the second time this season on Friday, April 25, 2014 at Safeco field in Seattle. After a 5-6 start to the season, Texas has won nine out of eleven games, and three in a row to climb to the top of the AL West, while Seattle has lost ten of their last twelve games, after starting the season 6-3.
Pitching Matchup
The Rangers will be sending Robbie Ross to the mound against Seattle for the second time this season, while the Mariners will give Roenis Elias the start.
In his last start against the Mariners, Ross pitched 7 scoreless innings to get his first win of the season. He has a 2.31 ERA and is 1-1 this season. He allowed 4 runs in his last start which was the most he has allowed in four starts this season. He has thrown 21 strikeouts so far, and has issued 8 walks. He will be trying to get his second straight win against the struggling Mariners.
Roenis Elias is still adjusting to life in the major leagues; he has a respectable 3.22 ERA, but is 1-2 so far this season after four starts. His first major league victory did come against the Rangers, he only allowed one run in the game, and struck out five batters. He has thrown 15 strikeouts this season, but has walked 11 batters.
The Rangers had been the best team in the AL West for the past five years before missing the playoffs last year. Part of the reason they failed to make it into the post season was losing two of their stars Josh Hamilton and C.J. Wilson to the Los Angeles Angels, but they regrouped this offseason, and added a few new pieces like Prince Fielder and Shin-Soo Choo. The team has started playing well together, and will try to build on their division lead by taking advantage of the slumping Mariners.
The Mariners have not made the playoffs since 2001, and the team decided to spend some money and bring better talent to the team this past offseason. They brought in some big bats by managing to outbid the New York Yankees for the services of Robinson Cano, who was the best player on the Yankees roster; they also added Corey Hart and Logan Morrison to the team. Their new acquisitions haven't been performing at the level they usually do, but the team expects them to work their way back into form very soon.
Game Line: The game line for this game is not yet available.
Personal Pick: The Texas Rangers are playing the best ball of all MLB teams right now, and I don't see them stumbling against a Seattle team that is struggling to figure out how to right their sinking ship.
Texas manager Ron Washington has his team playing very well right now, if they can continue playing at this level, they will be one of the favorites to represent the American League in the World Series, but the season is still young and anything can happen.