6/5/18: Open Game Thread

This is, bar none, the biggest series of the year so far. Despite it being a short two-game dance, these games represent a great chance for the first place Mariners (man I’ll never get tired of writing that) to get a leg up on the always-dangerous Astros.

Lineups!

Houston will be running out an all-righty lineup against James Paxton, while Ben Gamel somewhat surprisingly gets the start over Denard Span against Dallas Keuchel. Gamel’s scorching bat in May has led to a change of plan, as Shannon Drayer reports that he and Span will share more of a 50/50 role. This strikes me as odd given that both guys are left-handed, but as long as both hit, it shouldn’t matter tooooo much.

Keuchel, despite an ugly win-loss record, is turning in yet another quality year, bringing a 3.60 xFIP into today’s contest. Although he is still adept at getting ground balls, his 54.8% GB% represents a twelve-point drop from 2017, and it would do the M’s good to capitalize on that and elevate the ball. Those Crawford Boxes are mighty tempting.

Game Time: 5:10 PDT

TV: ROOTNW, MLB.tv

Radio: 710 ESPN, MLB.com