The Oakland Athletics will look to continue their dominance over the AL West Tuesday night when they visit the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field. The game is at 10:10 PM ET. Brett Anderson (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will take the mound for Oakland and Doug Fister (0-1, 4.50 ERA) will pitch for Seattle.
The MLB money line lists the Athletics at -140 and the Mariners at +120 with an over/under of 7.5.
If Anderson can lead the Oakland Athletics (6-2) to victory, the subsequent 7-2 record will tie their best start since 2003. Anderson has played superbly against the Mariners, with a career 3-1 record and 1.86 ERA against them in five starts. Earlier this year, the left-hander pitched six scoreless innings against the Mariners in a 6-2 home win.
Fister is hoping to rebound from his first start of the year, in which he pitched four innings and gave up two runs and six hits and three walks. The Mariners will need more from their hitters as well. After posting a .275 batting average against the A’s in 2009, they have regressed to a paltry .175 against them this year.
After being shut out against Oakland at home on Monday, the Seattle Mariners (2-6) are still looking for their first home victory. After promising expectations leading into the season, the Mariners are off to their worst start since 2004. Right fielder Ken Griffey Jr., who is 4-19 on the year, remains optimistic for the season. “We’ll get on track, and the first six, seven games will be forgotten,” said Griffey. “I’d rather it happen this week than late September.”
Oakland’s pitching may be too much for the offensively-challenged Mariners. Their team ERA of 2.61 is first in the AL. Seattle’s team batting average is .212. Brett Anderson is an emerging star, and if the A’s can get more than six innings from him they will end up with their seventh victory of the season.
