The Seattle Mariners and Baltimore Orioles are playing the first game a four game series at Safeco Field on Thursday and the game has Wei-Yin Chen against Hisashi Iwakuma and is a big matchup for the M's, as they have fallen down a bit in the wild card and now are in a scrum with the Blue Jays and Yankees, making this a crucial series for all involved.
The Mariners have been playing better than many expected this year, but their offense has been terrible and they traded for Kendrys Morales to try and help out. The team also called up Chris Taylor and that could be the boost they need after the way he has played in the minors. Chen comes into the game pitching okay this season, as he has 10 wins but a 4.00 plus ERA and now he will try and take care of business against the M's.
The Orioles have been giving Chen run support this season and now the team is looking to get a win after losing to the Angels. The Orioles have been hitting as bad as the Mariners as of late and this could be a chance for the two teams to snap out of it. The Mariners pitching has been fantastic and they have Iwakuma going before Felix Hernandez and they come in after losing to the Mets. The team was perfect gamed by Bartolo Colon for seven innings before nearly making a comeback and now they hope to win against the O's.
The offense has been an experiment in futility, as they are ranked near the bottom of the league in nearly every category. The tough thing for the Mariners is that they are leading the league in ERA, WHIP and BAA, so they really just need to start scoring some runs and they could keep things going. The Mariners have the chance to get to the playoffs for the first time in a decade and now they are right in the thick of it.
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