Mariners at Athletics
The Seattle Mariners were reminded last season just how important every
game is, which was the margin between sitting at home for the postseason
and watching the Oakland Athletics claim the American League’s second
wild-card spot. The two AL West rivals square off for the first time in
2015 on Friday when the Athletics continue their season-opening
seven-game homestand with the first of three against the Mariners.
Although Seattle won the season series 10-9, the Mariners dropped their last two meetings at home against a fading Oakland team that went 10-16 in September. Seattle, which tied two other teams for the second-most road wins in the AL in 2014 (46), opened this season by losing two of three at home to the reigning division champion Los Angeles Angels. The Athletics outscored Texas 19-3 over the first three games of their opening series with Texas, recording 11 extra-base hits in the process. However, Oakland was forced to settle for a four-game split following the Rangers’ 10-1 victory on Thursday when it could only manage an eighth-inning RBI double from Marcus Semien.
TV: 10:05 p.m. ET, ROOT (Seattle), CSN California (Oakland)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Mariners RH Taijuan Walker (2014: 2-3, 2.61 ERA) vs. Athletics LH Drew Pomeranz (2014: 5-4, 2.35)
Walker
more than held his own in the first extended action of his major league
career last year, posting a 1-1 record and 1.96 ERA in five September
outings (two starts). The 22-year-old Louisiana native used his strong
finish as a springboard to an outstanding exhibition season, going 4-0
with an 0.67 ERA in seven turns to win a job in the Mariners’ rotation.
Walker appeared in two games versus the Athletics in 2014, but did not
factor into the decision either time while posting a 2.25 ERA over eight
relief innings.
After beating out Jesse Chavez for the fifth
starter spot, Pomeranz will attempt to build upon a mostly successful
spring training that saw him record 28 strikeouts over 22 2/3 innings
and post a 2.38 ERA across six starts. The No. 5 overall pick in the
2010 draft went 4-3 with a 2.58 ERA in 10 turns during the 2014 season,
but missed more than two months after breaking his hand while punching a
chair following a poor outing in June. Pomeranz is 2-0 with a 0.82 ERA
in five career appearances (two starts) against the Mariners while
holding them to a .128 batting average.
WALK-OFFS
1.
Oakland combined for 25 hits and outscored Texas 18-0 in its two wins,
but managed only two runs on 11 hits in its two losses to the Rangers.
2.
RF Nelson Cruz, who went 1-for-11 against the Angels in his first
action with the Mariners since hitting a major-league high 40 homers
with Baltimore last year, batted .125 with no home runs in six games
versus the Athletics in 2014.
3. Pomeranz, who was drafted 38 spots ahead of Walker, has made it out of the sixth inning only five times in 40 career starts.