Seattle Mariners vs. Cleveland Guardians September 2 Betting Preview

After dropping back-to-back series, the Cleveland Guardians (68-61) will try to get back on track as they host the red hot Seattle Mariners (73-58). The Guardians will host this one at Progressive Field with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 p.m.

After taking three of four from the Guardians last week, the Mariners stayed hot to start this week as they swept the Detroit Tigers in three games. On Thursday, they were able to win the finale 7-0.

In the win, Logan Gilbert pitched six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out nine. Julio Rodriguez and Ty France both homered in the victory.

Cleveland did not have near the success as they dropped two of three to the Baltimore Orioles, including a 3-0 loss in the finale. Shane Bieber pitched seven innings, allowing three runs on six hits while striking out 11, but the offense had no answers for the Orioles’ pitching.

In total, the Guardians managed only two hits, one by Jose Ramirez and one by Andres Gimenez in the loss.

The Mariners are the favorites Friday despite playing on the road. They are (-143) to win while the Guardians’ moneyline sits at (+125). The runline features Cleveland (+1.5), and the over/under for total runs is 7.5.

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Pitching Matchup

Seattle will send righty Luis Castillo to the mound for Friday’s opener. In 19 games this season between the A’s and Mariners, he is 5-5 with a 2.85 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, and he has 129 strikeouts in 116.2 innings.

The Guardians will counter with righty Zach Plesac. He is 3-11 in 23 games with a 4.39 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, and has 99 strikeouts in 127 innings.

Mariners Look To Stay Hot

Having won seven of their last 10 games, the Seattle Mariners have been one of the hottest teams in baseball lately. While they still sit 11 games back in the AL West, they are just mere percentage points behind the Tampa Bay Rays for the top Wild Card spot.

Several players on the Mariners have had some success against the Guardians’ Zach Plesac. Jake Lamb, Julio Rodriguez, Carlos Santana, and Eugenio Suarez have all homered off the righty while Suarez has two bombs against him.

Rodriguez has been the Mariners’ best hitter this season. The favorite to win the AL Rookie of the Year (-700), Rodriguez is hitting .266/.328/.476 with 22 home runs, 66 runs batted in, 69 runs scored, and 23 stolen bases.

One Game Separates AL Central

Despite having a one-game lead in the AL Central, losing six of the last 10 games has not helped the Guardians chances of winning the AL Central. With eight games upcoming against the second-place Twins, every win is crucial as we come down the home stretch of the season.

Keep an eye on both Jose Ramirez and Amed Rosario Friday as they have both hit Luis Castillo well in their careers. For Ramirez, he is hitting .333 in 15 at-bats with three home runs and six runs batted in.

Rosario is hitting .467 in 15 at-bats against the righty with a home run and three runs batted in.

In addition to these two, Josh Naylor (16 HR, 61 RBI) and Andres Gimenez (.302 avg., 15 HR, 60 RBI, 15 SB) have also had great seasons this year.

Guardians Have Their Work Cut Out For Them

The trends do not support Cleveland in this one. Not only have the Mariners won six of their last seven games, but they are also 7-2 in their last nine road games and 4-1 in their last five versus Cleveland.

Conversely, Cleveland has won just two of their last seven games while the total has gone under in 10 of their last 11 games.

With Luis Castillo and a red hot Mariners team coming into town, Cleveland will have their work cut out for them this weekend. The Guardians seemingly need a spark to get them back on track and a great game from Zach Plesac and a win against the Mariners could be just the thing to do it.