A’s vs. Mariners Prediction: Can Seattle Complete the Sweep?
By Peter Dewey
Who would have thought that the Seattle Mariners would be just a half game out of the final wild-card spot in the American League in the season’s final week?
Seattle has defied all expectations this season, and they have a chance to sweep the Oakland Athletics and potentially catch the Boston Red Sox in the wild card race. Seattle’s 4-2 victory over the A’s on Tuesday helped it take advantage of Boston’s 4-2 loss to the lowly Baltimore Orioles.
The Mariners have also jumped the Toronto Blue Jays, who are now a half-game behind Seattle after Toronto was beaten by the wild-card leading New York Yankees on Tuesday. There’s still so much to be decided in this race, but the Mariners are about as close as they can come to controlling their own destiny.
Seattle has this final game against Oakland before playing three games against a 74-83 Los Angeles Angels team to end the season. Seattle’s World Series odds have jumped all the way up to +6000 (they were +20000 two days ago) at WynnBET, showing that oddsmakers are warming up to the idea that the Mariners could earn a playoff berth for the first time since 2001.
Seattle is a slight underdog in the final game against Oakland, sitting at -105 odds on the moneyline to beat the A’s (-115). Rookie Logan Gilbert (6-5, 4.83 ERA) will get the start against Frankie Montas (13-9, 3.48 ERA) on Wednesday night.
Mariners vs. A’s Prediction and Pick
The A’s are down to their last gasp in the American League wild card race, as they are 3.5 games out of a spot with just four to play.
I thought that they would have fared much better on Tuesday with Chris Bassitt on the mound, but Mitch Haniger’s third homer of the series helped the Mariners come away with the victory.
As much as a Mariners sweep seems unlikely given their minus-50 run differential this season, I’m going to back them in this matchup. Seattle has won nine of its last 10, including three in a row, and it can all but taste a spot in the postseason.
Montas has made two starts against Seattle this season, but Oakland is 0-2 in those games. Montas allowed four earned runs in six innings back on May 24 and three earned in six innings on July 23.
Seattle has picked things up offensively over the past month, averaging the ninth-most runs per game and posting the league’s 14th-best ERA. Gilbert has allowed just seven earned runs over his last 18.1 innings (three starts) and Seattle’s gone 3-0 in those games.
I’ll take the Mariners on the moneyline in this one but keep an eye out for Montas’ strikeout prop as well. WynnBET has it set at 6.5 with the over at +100 odds, but Montas has 21 K’s in two starts against Seattle this season. Give me the over.
WynnBET Promo: Bet $1, Win $100 if any NFL or college football team scores. Claim offer now.