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Amidst the endless servings of potato salad, hot dogs, and fruit platters I’m sure most of you are enjoying today, we have ourselves some good ol’ Mariners baseball. Here are your lineups:
Nelson Cruz returns to the lineup, batting fourth. In an effort to combat Kansas City Royals starter Danny Duffy’s lefty-throwing ways, the outfield will feature a trio of right-handed hitters in Mitch Haniger (RF), Taylor Motter (LF), and Guillermo Heredia (CF). Carlos Ruiz, meanwhile, gets the start at catcher.
Duffy will be taking the mound for the Royals for the first time in over a month, a result of a strained right oblique that landed him on the disabled list on May 30th. In 11 starts (68.2 IP) in 2017, Duffy has managed a 3.56 FIP, 4.84 xFIP, and a 1.5 fWAR. He made two rehab starts in Triple-A prior to this start, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits and a walk over a combined 7.1 innings.
Toeing the rubber for the Mariners will be Felix Hernandez, who will attempt to build upon two straight quality starts. The home run issue is real and the idea that The King will ever be The King again is starting to fade, but I still can’t help but feel genuinely excited on Felix Days. It’s like Christmas, only now instead of a plethora of big beautiful presents, we get gift cards to Jamba Juice. Which, whatever, I can live with Jamba Juice.
Time: 3:40 PM PDT
TV: ROOTNW
Radio: 710 ESPN
Stream: MLBtv