Seattle's won 4 of 5 to climb back to .500 and Texas is stumbling at the worst time — this AL West set at Globe Life Field could swing the division race either way.
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Best BetMariners
Seattle's the hotter team walking into this series, riding 4 wins in their last 5 while Texas just got embarrassed by Atlanta and dropped a laugher to the White Sox. The Mariners' offense has scored freely in that stretch, and even with Julio Rodriguez and J.P. Crawford both banged up, the depth has held up. Texas playing at home with a season-series edge keeps this from being a slam dunk, but the form gap is real.
Mariners
+Won 4 of last 5 games
+Julio Rodriguez trending up before latest ding
+Blew out Reds 8-0 last week
−Julio and Crawford both day-to-day
−Donovan and Refsnyder still on rehab, thin infield
−Lost season series 4-2 to Texas so far
Rangers
+Holds season-series edge, swept Seattle in April
+Playing at home in a tight AL West race
−Seager hitting .182 through 3 IL stints
−Got blown out 1-15 by Atlanta last week
−Jansen dealing with setback, Freeman still rehabbing
Neither club has announced a starter for the Friday, July 24 opener, so the pitcher matchup card will fill in once the probables drop. What we do know is the stakes: Seattle and Texas are separated by a game in the loss column, and this weekend series in Arlington carries real AL West weight heading into the stretch run.
The lineups tell two very different stories right now. Julio Rodriguez is banged up again — pulled as a precaution Monday against the Reds — but he's shown flashes of the bat that made him a threat before his concussion IL stint, including a walk-off sac fly in his return. J.P. Crawford is also day-to-day, thinning out a Mariners infield that's already missing Brendan Donovan and Rob Refsnyder, both on rehab assignments in Tacoma.
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SEA Mariners
TEX Rangers
Texas has its own issues at the top of the lineup. Corey Seager is on his third IL stint of the season and still working his way back through soft-toss and grounders, leaving a massive hole at shortstop. Danny Jansen's return behind the plate has hit a setback too, and Cody Freeman just started a rehab assignment of his own — this is not the healthy version of the Rangers that opened the year with a series sweep of Seattle.
Seattle Mariners
Jul 22?vs Reds—
Jul 21?vs Reds—
Texas Rangers
Jul 22?vs White Sox—
Jul 21?vs White Sox—
Recent form.
Form favors Seattle right now. The Mariners have won 4 of their last 5, including an 8-0 rout of Cincinnati and back-to-back wins over the Giants, one of them a walk-off. Texas, meanwhile, got run out of the building 1-15 by Atlanta before dropping a 3-10 decision to the White Sox — the kind of ugly stretch that puts pressure on a first-place-adjacent team fighting for playoff position in a crowded AL field.
Seattle Mariners
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Texas Rangers
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
Texas still holds the season-series edge after sweeping Seattle in Arlington back in April, so there's history here that cuts against the Mariners' momentum. But with both clubs banged up in different spots — Seattle's outfield and infield versus Texas's middle infield and catcher spot — this series is shaping up as a coin flip that either team could tilt with a healthy return or two.
