Mariners vs. Astros: Early Odds and Preview for ALDS After Wild Card
The Seattle Mariners' magical season will continue in the American League Division Series against a Houston Astros team that they are more than familiar with.
The American League West sides will begin their best-of-five ALDS series on Tuesday inside Minute Maid Park. The two sides will have a day off on Wednesday and face each other for Game 2 on Thursday.
The break in between games at the start of the series could help the Mariners rest their relief pitchers after a taxing two games against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Houston proved in the regular season that it is the better all-around team by producing a 12-7 record against the Mariners.
The Astros' success against the Mariners, playoff experience and pitching depth may eliminate the chances of Seattle's season-long magic continuing.
Series Odds and Schedule
1 of 4
Series Odds
Houston (-210; bet $210 to win $100)
Seattle (+175; bet $100 to win $175)
Series Schedule
Game 1: Tuesday, October 11 at Houston
Game 2: Thursday, October 13 at Houston
Game 3: Saturday, October 15 at Seattle
Game 4: Sunday, October 16 at Seattle (if necessary)
Game 5: Monday, October 17 at Houston (if necessary)
All game times are TBD.
Houston Enters Series with Multiple Edges
2 of 4
The Houston Astros should be considered a healthy favorite to advance to the ALCS out of the all-AL West ALDS.
Houston controlled the regular-season series with the Mariners by a 12-7 margin and it is playing in its sixth consecutive postseason.
The Astros have made it to at least the ALCS in each of their last five postseason appearances. They won four of their ALDS matchups by either a 3-0 or 3-1 margin.
Dusty Baker's team owns the best postseason experience in the American League and it can attack Seattle in a multitude of ways.
The Astros have six starting pitchers with postseason experience, led by Justin Verlander, so they can approach every game with a new strategy and a few arms that can go multiple innings.
Houston will likely go with Verlander and Framber Valdez to start the series in Games 1 and 2. Any combination of Lance McCullers Jr., Jose Urquidy, Luis Garcia and Cristian Javier can be used either in relief, or to start Game 3 in Seattle.
Verlander is coming off five no-hit innings in his final regular-season start. He gave up zero hits in three of his final six regular-season starts. All of those no hit totals came in Houston.
Valdez had a streak of 25 starts of at least six innings for most of the season. He was taken out in the sixth inning in each of his last three starts.
If Houston gets shutdown starts from Verlander and Valdez, it could jump ahead in the early stages of the contest through Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez and others and force Seattle to max out its pitching similar to the situation it found itself in Toronto.
Seattle Needs More out of Robbie Ray
3 of 4
Seattle has to come into the ALDS with some concerns about how Robbie Ray will hold up.
The 2021 AL Cy Young Award winner was pulled in the fourth inning of Game 2 against Toronto after giving up four earned runs on six hits. He gave up two home runs to Teoscar Hernandez.
Ray's poor start in Toronto was a continuation of his late-season form. The southpaw allowed 39 hits, 17 earned runs and eight home runs in September and October.
The left-handed hurler did not make it into the sixth inning in any of his three regular-season starts against the Astros. He had two outings that did not last into the fourth inning.
Seattle has other options available to backup Luis Castillo. Logan Gilbert will be fully rested and George Kirby closed out Toronto in the ninth inning on Saturday.
Seattle manager Scott Servais has to decide in the time off between series when he wants to start Ray, or if he wants to utilize him in a different manner.
The day off in between Games 1 and 2 allows Seattle to be a bit more flexible with its starters and that could allow Castillo to come back for Game 4.
There is always the chance that Ray reverses his poor form and turns in a solid outing against Houston, but Servais may wait until Game 3 at home to make that call since Castillo was fantastic in his start against Toronto and Gilbert had four starts of at least six innings versus Houston in the regular season.
.png?w=256)
Could Offenses Take over Series?
4 of 4
Both offenses were able to put up decent totals in the 19 games between the first and second place teams in the AL West.
Houston had 10 games with four or more runs against Seattle, while the Mariners hit that total on eight occasions in the season series.
Houston had at least four runs scored in eight of its 12 wins over the Mariners, including an 11-run output against Robbie Ray on July 29.
The Astros offense produced four double-digit run totals in the final five weeks of the regular season and three of those totals were produced in the last 10 games.
Seattle needed 10 runs to complete its comeback in Game 2 against Toronto and it put up four runs in a shutout of the Blue Jays in Game 1.
The Mariners' offense had a similar late-season output as the Astros by putting up at least five runs in their final three games and five or more runs in six of their last 11 games.
Houston and Seattle may be silenced by the dominant pitchers on both sides, but they at least come into the series in impressive offensive form.
Gambling problem? Call (877-8-HOPENY) or text HOPENY (467369).
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL/IN/MI/NJ/PA/WV/WY), 1-800-NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO/NH), 888-789-7777/visiting ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), 1-877-770-STOP (7867) (LA), visiting OPGR.org (OR), or calling/texting TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) or 1-888-532-3500 (VA).
Odds and lines subject to change. 21+ (18+ NH/WY). AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/LA/MI/NH/NJ/NY/OR/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. Eligibility restrictions apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for full terms and conditions.
.png?w=480)
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
