Cleveland Guardians vs. Seattle Mariners Betting Preview

After dropping the first game on Thursday, the Cleveland Guardians (66-57) will look to even up the series on Friday as they take on the Seattle Mariners (68-57). Seattle will host this one at T-Mobile Park with the first pitch scheduled for 10:10 p.m.

The Mariners won the opener 3-1 behind a strong start from Marco Gonzales. He went six innings, allowing one run on four hits while striking out four.

The big blow for Seattle came in the form of a Mitch Haniger three-run home run off of Triston McKenzie in the first inning. Aside from that, the Mariners only had three other hits.

All of the scoring was done in the first inning as Jose Ramirez had an RBI groundout to score Steven Kwan. Outside of that, the Guardians had six hits led by Amed Rosario with two.

Guardians vs. Mariners August 26 Betting Odds

The Guardians are the slight favorites Friday despite playing on the road. They are -110 to win while the Mariners’ moneyline sits at -106. The runline features Seattle +1.5 (-192), and the over/under for total runs is seven.

Can the Guards pull away with first place in the AL Central? Click here to bet on them for free with betJACK Training Camp!

Pitching Matchup

Cleveland will look to ace Shane Bieber to pick up the win on Friday. In 23 games, he is 8-7 with a 3.10 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, and has 144 strikeouts in 145 innings. In his last three starts, he has given up just three runs in 20.1 innings of work.

For the Mariners, they will hand the ball to 25-year-old righty Logan Gilbert. This season, he is 10-5 in 25 games with a 3.52 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, and has 131 strikeouts in 143.1 innings.

Guardians Trying To Endure Rough Stretch

While the Cleveland Guardians have created some mild separation in the AL Central, the next week will be a real test for them. Six of their next nine games are against the Seattle Mariners with the Baltimore Orioles sandwiched in between the two series.

Jose Ramirez continues to be the best hitter for the Guardians this year. In 455 at bats, he is hitting .284/.354/.547 with a team-leading 25 home runs, 104 runs batted in, and 69 runs scored.

While only a few Guardians have faced Logan Gilbert, Ramirez is the only one to do real damage with a home run and two runs batted in. As a team, Guardians’ hitters are a combined 4 for 18 against him.

Gilbert Looks For First Win In Over A Month

While Logan Gilbert has quietly been one of the Mariners’ best pitchers this season, he has struggled to pick up wins as of late. In his last eight starts, he is 0-2 in that span. In his last four starts, he has given up 19 runs in 20.1 innings.

Offensively, there are a few Mariners who have hit well off of Bieber. J.P. Crawford is four for six with three runs batted in while Mitch Haniger is three for nine. Eugenio Suarez has a home run off of the righty, but he is also hitting just .154 in 13 at bats.

It is worth noting that Mariners’ first baseman Ty France left the game on Thursday with a leg injury, so it will be interesting to see if he is available for the second game. This season, he is hitting .277/.346/.424 with 14 home runs, 62 runs batted in, and 44 runs scored.

Guardians Need Friday Win

With a little breathing room in the AL Central, it is hard to call Friday a must-win game, but squaring off with a really solid Mariners team six times over the next nine games, that divisional lead can turn into a deficit really quickly. With that in mind, they need Shane Bieber to pitch well and give them an opportunity to win Friday.

Cleveland is also looking to buck the trend of playing poorly at T-Mobile Park. They are just 2-5 in their last seven games against Seattle overall, and they are just 1-4 in their last five at T-Mobile Park.

Still, this one comes down to Bieber. If he can pitch well, the Guardians have proven their offense is capable of putting up a few runs against most any pitcher. The last thing that the Guardians want to do is drop Friday’s game and need to win out the rest of the weekend just to force a split.