Free MLB Pick: Seattle Mariners vs. Detroit Tigers: August 18th 2009

Seattle Mariners vs. Detroit Tigers
Free Pick: Seattle Mariners -135 (August 18th 2009)
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Seattle leaves the Pacific Northwest for Motown and a three-game set versus the host Detroit Tigers with the first game Tuesday night and the first pitch at 7:05PM Eastern Time. Both teams are 4-5 their last 9 games overall and the Mariners will send their ace Felix Hernandez to the bump for the opener. Hernandez has been nothing short of spectacular on the highway this season posting a record of 8-1 with an ERA of 1.06. Seattle has not lost a road game with Hernandez on the hill since May 14 in Texas. In that game Hernandez pitched seven scoreless innings as his team let him down losing 3 to 2. Over his last seven road starts he is 6-0 with an ERA of 1.53 which included a win in Motown back in July where he allowed one run on six hits over seven innings of work. The Mariners are ranked 6 in pitching this season with an ERA of 3.97. Opponents are hitting .247 with an OBP of .322 and OPS of .247 against them this season. In the box the Mariners are ranked 16 in batting average with a mark of .262 averaging 4.0 runs per game and OPS of .716 on the season. The Tigers will send Rick Porcello to the hill with his 5-3 record at home and an ERA of 4.92. The Tigers are ranked 11 in pitching with an ERA of 4.22 with opponents hitting for an average of .258 and have an OBP of .332. In the box the Tigers are ranked 21 with a batting average of .258 averaging 4.6 runs per game with an OPS of .746 this season. On the technical front we see that Seattle is 15-3 (+11.6) on the road with a money line of -100 to -150 this season. Hernandez is 11-2 (+9.3) in road games this season, 10-1 (+9.4) in road games in night games this season, 10-1 (+9.5) in road games after a win over the last 3 seasons and 7-0 (+7.1) in road games after giving up 1 or less earned runs last outing this season. With solid fundamental and technical support we will back the visitor here as the Mariners ride Hernandez to the winners circle. Lay the short price with the favorite as they grab game one of this three-game set and add to the solid road record of their starter.

Graded Selection: 2* Seattle Mariners 2 Detroit Tigers 1