AL Showdown: Seattle Mariners vs. Texas Rangers

Who is going to capture the American League West or the third and final wild-card spot? We may have some more clarity on that after this weekend’s clash in Texas but this looks like it’s going to come down to a season-ending 4-game series between these two teams in Seattle next weekend.

The Mariners will send Bryce Miller (8-5, 3,88) to the hill against Dane Dunning (10-6, 3,78) for the Rangers. Texas opens as a -122 home favorite with a total of 9 (under -120). The first pitch is scheduled for 8:05 pm ET / 5:05 pm PT and can be seen on Root Sports NW or Bally Sports SW. Let’s start our Mariners vs Rangers series preview with a look at Seattle from a betting perspective.

Mariners Continue to Exceed Expectations

On the back of Wednesday’s 6-3 win at Oakland, the Seattle Mariners have gone over their season win total of 83.5. That cashes our preseason MLB predictions but there are many who are stunned the Mariners are in this position after falling 10.5 games behind in the American League West on June 28th.

When the page on a new month turned, so did the Mariners’ fortunes with a 38-15 run in July and August. They’ll lean on Bryce Miller in game one after a terrific outing against the Los Angeles Dodgers where the former Texas A&M Aggie allowed hits over 5.1 innings with no earned runs. Seattle is 13-10 when Miller makes the start but has dropped three straight.

We continue our Mariners vs Rangers betting preview by switching our attention to Texas.

Rangers Wallows In Mediocrity

The Rangers had control over the American League West until the end of June with a 6.5 game lead, but that’s when the cracks started to show. Texas produced some high-scoring baseball scores with an offense that until this day leads the American League in hitting with a .266 team average.

The problem came when their pitching faltered, falling to 18th in the league with a 4.31 era. Most of that comes from an unreliable bullpen that ranks 25th in baseball with a 4.90 era, while their starters are 6th with a 3.94 era. Friday starter, Dane Dunning, will hope his last outing at Cleveland was a sign of things to come after not allowing an earned run in five innings against the Cleveland Guardians because his stretch run hasn’t been very good.

Dunning has allowed 19 earned runs in his last 24.1 innings (7.04 era). We aren’t basing our wager recommendation on either starting pitcher. We conclude our Mariners vs Rangers betting preview with our official selections.

Rangers Wake Up At Home

Let’s be real. If the Rangers can’t win this series against the Mariners then it’s very unlikely they’ll find themselves in the postseason. Even with another series to end the season, we would expect that we’ll get nothing more than the very best from the home team.

Texas has not been a friend to bettors this season with 6.03 units lost as a favorite, but still are 62-45 (.579) in that role. When we’re not looking to tail a team over the long run, units won become less of an issue than wins and losses. The Rangers are 40-25 as a home favorite (.615) and are 2-0 against the Mariners when favored head-to-head. Texas is 25-21 when a -145 favorite or less.

Our official recommendation is to play the Rangers but cut down on your units wagered because it should be a match-up that could go either way late. That does it for our Mariners vs Rangers preview, with 2023 baseball games coming to an end we wish you nothing but the best with your wagers.

For more MLB news, Mariners vs Rangers analysis and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.

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