I will be looking at the afternoon outing between the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics once again. Last nights loss was the result of two unfortunate moments in the game where one thing led to another with two younger less experienced pitchers. A late surge from Oakland following the removal of James Paxton was also a result of the momentum acquired by some late success against the left handed phenom, and the game turned out to be a lot closer than it should have been. This afternoon, is the opposite. Although Sonny Gray and James Paxton are two of the most outstanding kids in baseball at the moment and have arguably outperformed the main Aces as of late, Jon Lester and Felix Hernandez are two established elites that know how to throw under the full pressure that the implications of this playoff race is setting right now. Of course it takes a lot more than sole experience to have success on the mound. The real advantage that both Lester and Hernandez have is their significant numbers against each others lineups. Felix Hernandez, being a long time division nemesis of Oakland, has had their number. Plain and simple. You would think that after so many encounters, there would be somewhat of a back and forth grind. This is far from the case, as Hernandez has recorded seven straight quality starts against his Bay Area rivals. Of anyone on the As who have had significant at bats against the King, not a single batter is hitting .300 against him and the more notable sluggers are hitting at below .200 against him. As arguably a top three pitcher in the game, Hernandez should be looking to rebound after an unacceptable outing versus Washington where he gave up a career high four home runs in the game. Dont expect too many to be left hanging this afternoon. Jon Lester, who will be taking the mound for Oakland, has a similar story against the opponent coming into this. Although there has been a much smaller sample of his encounters with this current Mariners lineup, nobody apart from Austin Jackson has really had much success against Lester. Jacksons success also comes in the form of singles composing his 7 for 18 at bat numbers versus the veteran lefty. A more notable feature of Lester is that he has also held Robinson Cano to a .246 batting average with zero homeruns through 69 at bats. Cano is a guy who has alot of pitchers numbers. Especially dating back to the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry between those two, this is a significant advantage that Lester has. In essence, expect another playoff type of vibe where nothing really gets out of hand. Both pitchers have proven to be extremely reliable in day games as well. We might also be getting help from the shadows by the mid to later afternoon considering the time of the year. UNDER 6.5 -125
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 18:02:15 +0000
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