Seattle Mariners vs. Cleveland Guardians September 4 Betting Preview

The struggles continue for the reeling Cleveland Guardians (68-63) as they lost their second in a row on Saturday to the Seattle Mariners (75-58). On Sunday, they will try to take the finale as they host this game at Progressive Field, with the first pitch scheduled for 2:40 p.m.

Saturday’s final ended up being a 4-0 win for the Mariners. Robbie Ray picked up the win after pitching six scoreless innings, allowing six hits and striking out three.

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Offensively, Ty France hit his 18th home run of the season as the Mariners got four runs on seven hits. They left 21 on base, but that did not come back to haunt them as their pitching kept Cleveland in check.

For the Guardians, Xzavion Curry took the loss after giving up four runs (three earned) on five hits over 4.1 innings. The biggest issue for Curry may have been the five walks given up in the game.

Cleveland was able to put together nine hits, but the offense could not figure out how to drive them in. Both Owen Miller and Steven Kwan had two hits in the loss.

The Mariners are the favorites in this one despite playing on the road. They are (-127) to win while the Guardians’ moneyline sits at (+108). The runline features Cleveland +1.5 (-155), and the over/under for total runs is 7.5.

Pitching Matchup

Seattle will look to 24-year-old righty George Kirby to finish the sweep. In 19 games, he is 6-3 with a 3.16 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, and has 107 strikeouts in 102.2 innings.

The Guardians will counter with righty Cal Quantrill. In 25 games, he is 11-5 with a 3.50 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, and he has 98 strikeouts in 149 innings.

Mariners Are the Hottest Team In Baseball

At 75-58, the Seattle Mariners may be ten games back in the AL West, but they are arguably the hottest team in baseball. They have won eight of their last ten and have won six in a row. On Sunday, they will look to make it seven as they try to sweep the Guardians on the road.

The Mariners have not had a ton of success against Cal Quantrill collectively in their careers. In fact, Seattle hitters are just two-for-thirty against him.

Still, Seattle’s offense has been stellar lately, and they have been led recently by Ty France. Over the last two weeks, he is hitting just .227/.271/.523, but he leads the team with four home runs in that span. He also has eight runs batted in and six runs over those two weeks.

AL Central Getting Much Tighter

On one hand, the Guardians are fortunate as they still hold a one-game lead in the division, as the Minnesota Twins have not been able to fully take advantage of the Guardians’ cold streak. 

On the other hand, Cleveland has allowed the Chicago White Sox to get right back in the race as the three teams are separated by just two games.

With eight games against the Twins over the next couple of weeks, every game will be magnified as a continued cold streak could put the Guardians in a vulnerable spot. On Sunday, they will try to stop the bleeding and improve on their 33-29 home record.

This will be the first time Cleveland has seen George Kirby, but Jose Ramirez continues to be their best hitter against righties. In 363 at bats versus right-handers, he is hitting .295/.360/.567 with 20 home runs and 84 runs batted in.

Cleveland Has To Find Some Momentum

After this series against the Mariners, the Cleveland Guardians head to Kansas City to face the fourth-place Royals. Going into that series, Cleveland would love nothing more than to get some momentum by salvaging the finale.

It won’t be easy as George Kirby has shown signs of brilliance this season. In fact, in his last three starts, he has given up just four earned runs in 17.2 innings combined.

For that reason, Cal Quantrill will carry the heavy burden of trying to slow down the Mariners’ bats. If he can do so, Cleveland should hopefully be able to manage a few runs so that they can have a much happier flight to Kansas City Sunday night.