Major League Baseball – Mariners vs Rangers

Friday night at Safeco field will be the season debut for a couple of baseball’s best. Cliff Lee finally makes his Seattle Mariners debut and the Texas Rangers will have stud second basemen Ian Kinsler in the lineup for the first time this season.

The MLB odds makers have firmly placed their confidence in Lee and the Mariners who are the -150 moneyline favorites; the comeback on the Rangers is +130. The game total is 7 runs.

Baseball Betting Odds
April 30, 2010
Texas Rangers +1½ -165 +130
Colby Lewis – R
Seattle Mariners -1½ +145 -150
Cliff Lee – L
Game Total 7

Location: Safeco Field – Seattle WA

Cliff Lee came to the Mariners as part of the 3-way trade that sent Roy Halladay to the Phillies. Lee was Seattle’s big-ticket acquisition but has been without his services since spring training. Lee was having trouble with an abdomen strain but now feels well enough to go but he will be limited to 100 pitches and that could work to the Rangers advantage. The sooner they can get the Ace out off the mound the sooner they can take their chances with the Mariners bullpen. The bullpen has been the weak

The Rangers will be happy to have Kinsler back; the second baseman has been their best hitter over the past two years. Without him in the lineup, the rest of the team has lacked that clutch factor to pull out some wins. Kinsler’s batting average dropped to .253 last season but he stole 31 bases and hit 31 homerun, both career highs.

Both of these team are underperforming, Seattle was supposed to be in the top spot with Texas in second challenging for a wildcard playoff berth, the season is still very early but for some fans seeing their teams occupy the bottom two slots in the division.

The key to Seattle making the leap upwards could be the return of Lee, however, even without Lee the staff holds a very good 3.37 ERA, although the bullpen has been a bit of a weak link. They will need to find extra offensive production from somewhere, Kasey Kotchman, Ichiro and Franklin Gutiérrez have all been solid but after that their hasn’t been a bat of any relevance.

The Rangers started slow but have won five of eight and things are pointing to another win tonight, Colby Lewis, who has been a nice surprise for the Rangers takes his 3-0, 3.80 ERA record to the mound tonight. Lewis’ ERA is closer to four but it considering the light hitters on the Mariners, he should be fine at holding the M’s to 3 runs. The Rangers will need to extend then at bats tonight, try to make Lee hit that 100-pitch count by the 5th so they can take advantage of the Mariners bullpen. I like the dogs and the Rangers look like a nice dog with a bit of bite. Rangers +130.

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