Coming off of a weekend series victory that saw the Mariners gain a game in the AL West standings, they head to the North side of Chicago to face the Cubs for the first time since 2019. Of the three pitching matchups in this series, today’s is by far the most winnable. It stands to reason, then, that the Mariners need to secure a win today to put themselves in good position for the rest of the series. These are the games that contenders win, after all!

Lineups!

With Drew “The Soggy Southpaw” Smyly on the hill for the Cubs, the Mariners will give Jarred Kelenic and Cal Raleigh each a day off. AJ Pollock and Sam Haggerty each slot into the lineup, while Cooper Hummel draws the start at DH.

For the Cubs, they’ll run out what seems to be their standard lineup these days, at least until OF Seiya Suzuki returns from injury. The Cubs have been suffering from defensive woes in right field during Suzuki’s absence, as Miles Mastrobuoni really isn’t a right fielder by trade.

Game information

Today’s game begins at 4:40 PM PT, and will be TV broadcast on Root Sports NW and MLB.tv and radio broastcast on 710 AM Seattle Sports and Mariners.com. Aaron Goldsmith and Mike Blowers will be featured on Root, and Rick Rizzs and Dave Sims will be on the horn through your AM dial.

Today in Mariners history

On April 10, 1994, Randy Johnson struck out Blue Jay Mike Huff to record his 1,079th strikeout as a Mariner, passing Mark Langston to become Seattle’s all-time strikeout leader. He was later passed for the record by Félix Hernández, who still holds the record with 2,524

Notes from Scott’s presser

Scott emphasized that newly selected RHP José Rodríguez will “provide some length”, implying that he could pitch multiple innings of relief if necessary. Rodríguez has experience as a starter, and had a four-inning outing as recently as April 5.