Baseball Picks: Tampa Bay Rays at Seattle Mariners

Written August 7, 2009 by Jordan Haimowitz

rays-mariners-preview-080709 Fresh off a two game sweep against the Red Sox, the Rays face Seattle on the road tonight. They go against Felix Hernandez who has been one of the best pitchers in baseball all season long. Evan Longoria leads the charge as he’s emerged as one of baseball’s best players period. He has 23 home runs and 81 RBIs on the year, considering he missed some time with an injury those numbers are staggering. All-star game MVP Carl Crawford is hitting .314 with 12 homers and 52 RBIs while swiping 51 bags. Ben Zobrist and Carlos Pena continue to hit well while Jason Bartlett has been solid. Tampa is 24-30 on the road this season, their inconsistency has plagued them. Jeff Niemann gets the start tonight for the Rays and is having a solid season posting a 10-5 record with a 3.62 ERA. However, tonight he will be anything but successful. In 12 road starts he has a 4.12 ERA this year. In one start against Seattle this year he went 5.1 innings allowing 2 runs on 3 hits while walking 3 batters. He faces a flat out assassin as his counterpart tonight and a team that is solid at home. Longoria and Pena will look to put some runs on the board but it will be a lost cause, this is a let down game for the reigning AL Champions. Friday’s MLB odds have been posted and they show the Mariners as -128 money line favorites over the Rays with the total for tonight’s game set for 7.5 runs.

The Seattle Mariners are 56-52 on the season. They are coming off a series win @ Kansas City taking two of three games. After trading Jarrod Washburn at the deadline, people figured they would be worse off, I see it as the exact opposite. They not only acquired Jack Wilson from Pittsburgh to be their shortstop of the future, but got two great young players for Washburn who was overachieving as it is. One thing that hasn’t changed is Ichiro Suzuki continues to be the best lead off hitter in baseball by a long shot. Ichiro is hitting .365 with 7 homers and 28 RBIs while stealing 23 bases. Franklin Gutierrez and Russell Branyan have performed way above their expectations and should be very hopeful for next season as they will look to improve. On the mound tonight is a flat out, ace of staff stud in Felix Hernandez. Felix The Cat brings a 12-4 record and 2.78 ERA to the hill tonight as he looks to take care of Tampa. He has won three of his four starts since the all-star break. In his only start against the Rays this season he shined going 7 innings allowing no runs and only 4 hits while picking up the win. He held Tampa’s lineup to a .167 batting average. Look for Ichiro and Gutierrez to get on base and cause Niemann to get out of rhythm. Seattle is home for the first time coming off a long road trip. Boy I love this game.

Haimo’s Hot Notes: The Rays are 6-4 in their last 10 games overall. The Mariners are 24-8 in their last 32 games as the favorite. Seattle is 2-1 in three games against Tampa this season. Felix is a horse and Niemann’s is not nearly as good as his numbers are. The Rays are below average on the road while Seattle is good at home. Pick below.

Well, for the first time all season long, I have had back to back losing nights. That ends TONIGHT. I have a sheet of four games that have a clean sweep written all over it. Lets get back to business, the winning way, Haimo’s way.

Jordan’s Picks: Seattle Mariners -128 & Under 7.5 Runs (-110)

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