The Seattle Mariners (70-70, 2nd in AL West) are set to face off against the St. Louis Cardinals (71-69, 3rd in NL Central) at Busch Stadium this Friday. This matchup marks the beginning of a three-game series and comes after Seattle’s impressive 16-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics, which ended a four-game losing streak. Currently, the Mariners are 5 ½ games behind the first-place Houston Astros in the American League West division and are also trailing the final AL Wild Card spot by the same margin. Meanwhile, the Cardinals recently secured a 3-2 win against the Milwaukee Brewers, taking two out of three games in that series and winning four of their last five. St. Louis finds itself 10 games behind the Brewers in the NL Central and is also 5 ½ games away from the last NL Wild Card position. The Mariners will be missing five pitchers, as well as left fielder Sam Haggerty, while the Cardinals are without three pitchers and catcher Willson Contreras.
This article was composed prior to Seattle’s game on Thursday.
Seattle’s Pitching Dominance Amid Struggles at the Plate
The Seattle Mariners currently rank poorly in several offensive categories, sitting 24th in on-base percentage (.304), 26th in runs scored (566), 29th in slugging percentage (.365), and dead last in batting average (.217). Cal Raleigh leads the team with 28 home runs and 84 RBIs, while Luke Raley has contributed 17 home runs and Julio Rodriguez has 48 RBIs. The Mariners have a total of ten players with RBI counts ranging from 31 to 84. They’ve recorded 189 doubles, 12 triples, and 155 home runs, achieving a total of 356 extra-base hits over 140 games.
Seattle excels in pitching, ranking first in several key metrics: earned run average (ERA) at 3.53, walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP) at 1.08, batting average allowed at .222, and quality starts with 83. Luis Castillo leads the team with 11 wins, while Logan Gilbert holds the title for most strikeouts at 181 and has the best ERA among starters at 3.19. On Friday, Bryce Miller, who has a record of 10-8 and an ERA of 3.30 with 147 strikeouts, will take the mound.
Cardinals’ Hitting and Pitching: A Mixed Bag
The St. Louis Cardinals find themselves in the middle of the pack offensively, ranking 13th in batting average (.248), 14th in on-base percentage (.312), 21st in slugging percentage (.391), and 22nd in runs scored (585). Both Paul Goldschmidt and Alec Burleson lead the team with 21 home runs each, while Burleson also leads in RBIs with 73. Nolan Arenado follows closely with 64 RBIs. Seven Cardinals players have RBI totals ranging from 35 to 73, indicating a distribution of offensive contributions. In total, St. Louis has achieved 217 doubles, 16 triples, and 145 home runs for 378 extra-base hits over 140 games.
On the pitching side, St. Louis ranks around the league average, sitting 15th in quality starts (51), 16th in WHIP (1.26), 17th in ERA (4.16), and 23rd in batting average allowed (.249). Sonny Gray stands out as the Cardinals’ win leader with 12 victories and 186 strikeouts. Erick Fedde, who is set to pitch on Friday, leads in ERA for starting pitchers at 3.43, holding a record of 8-8 with 137 strikeouts.
