MLB Baseball: Seattle Mariners vs. Oakland Athletics Preview, Prediction & Odds - 8/24/21

Game time: 3:37 p.m. ET

Venue: Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, CA

Where to watch: ROOTNW, NBCSCA, MLB Network

DraftKings: Athletics -130, Mariners +110

Bet365: Athletics -125, Mariners +105

Mariners: 67-58 (3rd place, AL West)

Athletics: 70-55 (2nd place, AL West)

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Mariners: 7-3 in last 10

Athletics: 3-7 in last 10

It’s about to get very interesting in the race for the second American League Wild Card spot.

The Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners will play the second game of their two-game series Tuesday in Oakland that carries serious playoff weight.

By way of the A’s losing two of three over the weekend against the San Francisco Giants in a close, hard-fought series, Oakland comes into this series having lost seven of its last 10. The good news for the A’s is they only dropped one game in the standings from the Houston Astros for first place in the American League West.

The A’s got everything they could’ve asked for from starter Frankie Montas on Sunday, who pitched seven shutout innings, allowed just two hits, and had nine strikeouts in probably his best start of the season. But Oakland couldn’t deliver more than one run across the plate; the A’s left six runners on base and were 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

The bullpen is where things went south. A.J. Puk gave up a pinch-hit, two-run home run to Donovan Solano in the top of the eighth inning. It took only four hits for the Giants to win and take the series finale, in what was a blown opportunity for the A’s.

Oakland will go with southpaw Cole Irvin, who has had a solid season despite the win-loss ledger. The 27-year-old will make his 25th start of the season; he’s 9-11 with a 3.57 ERA and a WHIP of 1.21.

One has to wonder how much more interesting this series would’ve been for the Mariners had their offense chosen to not die in the first two games of their three-game series against the Astros this weekend.

A lot of factors to consider here: Travel to two different parts of Texas, coming off an extra-innings victory on Thursday against the Texas Rangers, humidity, etc. But to come in, winners of seven of eight, and lose by a combined 27-4 in the first two games against first-place Houston should be considered a crime.

That’s why winning their finale Sunday, a 6-3 victory Sunday at Minute Maid Park, is mind-boggling. The Astros closed in on a sweep with a 2-0 lead heading into the eighth. But thanks to J.P. Crawford’s RBI double in the eighth and Ty France’s game-tying homer in the ninth, it gave Seattle an opportunity to stay respectable. The Mariners plated four runs in the 11th to ensure the victory.

This will be the conclusion of the Mariners’ eight-game road trip before playing seven straight at home, including another three-game matchup with the Astros at home (preceded by a four-game series against the Kansas City Royals). Depending how this series plays out, the door could be wide open when play shifts to T-Mobile Park.

The Mariners are expected to turn to right-handed pitcher Chris Flexen for the finale. In his first year with Seattle and first as a full-time starter, Flexen has a 10-5 mark with a 3.65 ERA.

It’s going to be a battle of offenses that normally don’t drive in a lot of runs, but tend to find a way in the most absurd of circumstances. The A’s are in the middle of the pack at the 15th most runs (561), while Seattle is 22nd (523). The offense doesn’t come by way of contact, however. The Mariners; 157 home runs are tied for ninth in the league, with the A’s tied for 12th with 155. This series, much like their previous ones, will be determined by who has the most clutch power at the plate.

The A’s are still this deep in a postseason run because of their pitching. Their 3.68 ERA is the sixth best in the league and they have gotten quality runs from Montas, Irvin and Sean Manaea. They’ll need to be relied upon even more down the stretch without ace Chris Bassitt for, likely, the rest of the year. Seattle’s pitching has been run-of-the-mill this season; its 150 homers allowed is 14th, while the 4.40 ERA is middle of the pack at 16th. The problem is the depth of the rotation. Beyond Flexen and Yusei Kikuchi, there’s no reliable guy in the rotation. Seattle needs to figure that out if it wants to make a late playoff push.

When in doubt, go with the pitching matchup, even on the road. Flexen should fare well against the workhorse in Oakland, and Seattle gets a crucial win. Mariners win 7-4.

The Athletics are 50-32 (+5.1) as a favorite of -110 or higher.

The Mariners are 50-45 (+26.1 on the money line) as an underdog of at least +100. The over is 52-40

Mariners: RP Diego Castillo (right shoulder, 10-day IL)

Athletics: SP Chris Bassitt (face, 10-day IL), RF Stephen Piscotty (wrist, 10-day IL)

Mariners: With the 2-for-5 day on Sunday, third baseman Ty France extended his hitting streak to five games and has hit three home runs in that stretch. He’s batting an astounding .367 in August with 13 RBI to go with a .620 slugging percentage.

Athletics: Third baseman Matt Chapman has cooled off the past couple of games, but he’s been one of Oakland’s best power hitters the past couple of weeks. Chapman has five home runs in his last eight games entering Monday, including two in the four-game set against the Chicago White Sox from Aug. 16-19.

J.P. Crawford (L) SS

Mitch Haniger (R) RF

Ty France (R) 1B

Kyle Seager (L) 3B

Abraham Toro (S) 2B

Luis Torrens (R) DH

Tom Murphy (R) C

Jarred Kelenic (L) CF

Dylan Moore (R) LF

Mark Canha (R) LF

Starling Marte (R) CF

Matt Olson (L) 1B

Jed Lowrie (S) DH

Josh Harrison (R) SS

Matt Chapman (R) 3B

Seth Brown (L) RF

Yan Gomes (R) C

Tony Kemp (L) 2B

Batting average: Ty France (.292)

Hits: Ty France (126)

Home runs: Kyle Seager (29)

RBI: Kyle Seager (82)

Stolen bases: Dylan Moore (18)

Wins: Chris Flexen (10)

Saves: Kendall Graveman (10)

ERA: Chris Flexen (3.64)

Batting average: Starling Marte (.321)

Hits: Matt Olson (119)

Home runs: Matt Olson (31)

RBI: Matt Olson (81)

Stolen bases: Starling Marte (17)

Wins: Chris Bassitt (12)

Saves: Lou Trivino (21)

ERA: Chris Bassitt (3.22)

Mariners: Scott Servais (sixth season)

Athletics: Bob Melvin (18th season, 11th with Oakland)

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