The top two teams in the American League West will get together as the Seattle Mariners take on the Athletics on Monday night in the opener of a three-game series at West Sacramento, Calif.
First-place Seattle had a six-game winning streak snapped Sunday by the Texas Rangers but possesses a two-game lead over the Athletics.
The Athletics have won nine of their past 12 games after knocking off the host Miami Marlins 3-2 on Sunday.
The A’s and Mariners opened the season with a four-game set and played to a split. The Athletics certainly are the more surprising team after losing a combined 307 games over the past three seasons.
Yet leaving Oakland seems to have inspired a club that is sitting three games over .500 at the 35-game mark.
“We’re playing good, we got some confidence, which is a good thing,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay told reporters. “Any time you’re going up against good teams, you want to feel like you’re playing good baseball. And I think that group out there is playing good baseball.”
The Athletics scored a run in the top of the ninth during Sunday’s victory. Rookie Nick Kurtz hit a one-out triple into the left field corner and Tyler Soderstrom followed with a pinch-hit, run-scoring single to center.
The extra-base hit was the first for the 22-year-old Kurtz in 11 big league games. The fourth overall pick of the 2024 draft is batting .278 with five RBIs. Kurtz had seven homers, seven doubles, no triples and 24 RBIs in 20 games at Triple-A Las Vegas earlier this season.
“Just trying to get more comfortable; I think that’s what it’s all about,” Kurtz said of adjusting to major league pitching. “The power and the slug isn’t really coming right now, and I think it’s funny just how baseball is.
“I hit a triple before I hit a double or a homer. It’s a funny game, but if I just keep hitting the ball hard, (home runs) will come.”
The Mariners outscored opponents 50-14 during their winning streak before getting pounded 8-1 by the host Rangers on Sunday. Seattle had just four hits while Texas pulled away with a six-run third inning. The Rangers were 5-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
“They were able to find some holes,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “And sometimes that’s the way the game goes.”
Right-hander Bryce Miller (2-3, 3.52 ERA) will be on the mound for Seattle on Monday and will try to avenge a 4-2 loss to the Athletics on March 29. Miller allowed three runs and six hits over 5 2/3 innings. He served up a homer to Shea Langeliers, the only long ball he has given up all season.
Miller is 1-2 with a 2.73 ERA in five career starts against the Athletics. Lawrence Butler (2-for-4) also has homered off Miller, 26, who has tossed five shutout innings in both of his victories this season.
Right-hander Luis Severino (1-3, 3.30 ERA) will take the mound for the Athletics on Monday, and he’s had trouble landing victories despite allowing one run or less in four of his seven starts.
His only scoreless outing came against the Mariners in his Opening Day start on March 27. Severino gave up three hits and walked four while striking out six in six innings. Seattle won 4-2.
Severino, 31, is 2-2 with a 3.58 ERA in five career starts against the Mariners.
Jorge Polanco is 5-for-11 with one homer off Severino, while Rowdy Tellez is 2-for-12 with a homer and five strikeouts.
–Field Level Media
