Mariners vs. Athletics (June 23): Ray, M’s aim for first sweep since April

After losing three series in a row, a trip to Oakland has proven to be just when the Seattle Mariners needed. Will they finish up their trip to the Bay Area with a sweep of the A’s?

Seattle went into this series with just two wins in their last ten games, but they have made the most of their matchup with the AL West’s worst team, bashing the A’s 8-2 on Tuesday and 9-0 last night.

Now comes the hard part, which is sweeping a series for only the second time this season. Their only other sweep this season was in April, when they took all three at home against the Kansas City Royals.

But things are set up about as well as they could be for the Mariners to break that drought, as their big-money ace, Robbie Ray, gets the starting assignment on the mound for today’s matchup and is coming off of his best two-start stretch of the season.

Seattle Mariners vs. Oakland Athletics Betting Odds and Matchup Information

Matchup Information

• Matchup: Seattle Mariners (31-39, 16-21 road, 4th in the AL West) vs. Oakland Athletics (23-47, 8-27 home, 5th in the AL West)
• Venue & Location: Oakland Coliseum (Oakland, California)
• Date: Thursday, June 23, 2022
• Game Time: 3:37 p.m. Eastern Time (12:37 p.m. local time)
• TV Broadcast/Streaming Info: ROOT SPORTS Northwest (Mariners), NBC Sports California (Athletics), MLB Extra Innings/MLB.TV (subscription packages)

Mariners vs. A’s Pitching Matchup

• Seattle Mariners: Robbie Ray (2022: 14 starts, 6-6, 4.25 ERA, 84.2 IP, 91 K/29 BB)
• Oakland Athletics: Frankie Montas (2022: 14 starts, 3-7, 3.53 ERA, 81.2 IP, 84 K/20 BB)

Mariners vs. A’s Odds

Game odds are via BetOnline. Odds from our other top reviewed and recommended sportsbooks may also be included in this article.

Moneyline

• Seattle Mariners -126
• Oakland Athletics +108

Over/Under

• OVER 7 (-108)
• UNDER 7 (-112)

Run Line

• Seattle Mariners -1.5 (+134)
• Oakland Athletics +1.5 (-162)

Ray Finding Form as All-Star Break Approaches

It’s too late at this point for Ray to get into All-Star consideration, but after a disappointing start to life in Seattle, last year’s AL Cy Young Award winner is showing the stuff that helped him win the award.

It has certainly not been the season that he nor the Mariners would have envisioned, but the nine-figure man is pitching like a nine-figure man is expected to pitch.

Ray was excellent in his Mariners debut and had three quality starts in his first four starts this season. But over his next eight starts, he managed just one quality start.

But after not going seven or more innings in eleven straight starts, Ray went seven innings in each of his last two starts.

And after seven shutout innings against the Boston Red Sox went unrewarded, he picked up Seattle’s only win in last week’s five-game series with the Los Angeles Angels by allowing only one run, three hits, and one walk and striking out ten in seven innings in an 8-1 win.

Run support has been hit or miss for Ray and Seattle’s other starters, but Seattle putting up 17 runs in the first two games of the series has to be encouraging, especially when the Mariners are 6-1 when they score four or more runs in a Ray start. On the flip side, they are just 1-6 when they score fewer than four runs in a Ray start.

Seattle Mariners vs. Oakland Athletics Prediction and Best Bets

Mariners vs. A’s Prediction: Mariners to win

Mariners vs. A’s Best Bets: Mariners ML (-126 at BetOnline) & Mariners -1.5 (+140 at Bovada Sportsbook)

It is very, very, very highly probable that Montas will not be in Oakland after the trade deadline, and with the stuff he has, his performances aren’t really going to be a decisive factor in how much of a market he has.

So, it only matters so much that he is not having a spectacular June, as he has allowed 14 runs–just nine earned–and 24 hits and has a 4.78 ERA in three starts this month.

But you can’t afford too many mistakes when you’re not getting a ton of run support, and that continues to be a problem for him at home.

He has a 3.00 ERA in ten home starts, but he is winless in his last nine home starts thanks in large part to the A’s scoring two or fewer runs in eight of those starts, including seven in a row. In those seven starts, Oakland has been outscored 30-6 and has lost by multiple runs in each game.

With Ray on the mound for the Mariners, look for that to continue and for Seattle to break out the brooms with another comfortable win.

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