Somebody break up the Seattle Mariners (68-55). Julio Rodriguez and Co. made it five in a row with a blowout win over the Houston Astros (70-54) on Saturday night, and now they’ll go for a huge divisional sweep on Sunday afternoon. First pitch from Minute Maid Park is set for 1:05 p.m. ET. It’ll be a battle of promising rookies on the mound, as Rookie Emerson Hancock (0-0, 5.40 ERA) will try to bring home a sweep for Seattle against young Astros righty Hunter Brown (9-8, 4.16).
30-13 since the start of July, the Mariners are suddenly looking like the hottest team in baseball as we approach September. Seattle enters Sunday’s game a half-game up on the Blue Jays for the third and final AL Wild Card spot and 1.5 games behind the Astros for second place in the AL West, with a set against the White Sox on tap next week to close out this road trip. Houston, meanwhile, has finally dropped a series for the first time since acquiring Justin Verlander at the trade deadline. They remain 2.5 back of the rival Rangers for the division lead and will welcome the Red Sox to town to start next week.
Houston enters as -185 favorites on the moneyline at DraftKings Sportsbook, with the Mariners at +154. The run total is set at 9.
Mariners-Astros picks: Sunday, August 20
Injury report
Mariners
Out: SS J.P. Crawford (concussion protocol), OF Jarred Kelenic (foot), C Tom Murphy (thumb), SP Bryan Woo (forearm)
Astros
Out: RP Phil Maton (elbow), 1B Jose Abreu (spine), OF/DH Michael Brantley (shoulder)
Starting pitchers
Emerson Hancock vs. Hunter Brown
Like rotation-mates Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo before him, Hancock was called up straight from Double-A when Woo landed on the IL with arm trouble. He was brilliant in his first career start (two hits, one run over five innings against the Padres) but had a rougher time against the Royals earlier this week, getting tagged for all five runs in the fifth inning to spoil his line. When the righty is on, he has good command of three pitches that are average or better, throwing a ton of strikes and getting quick outs.
Brown will set a new single-season high in innings with today’s start, and it’s been a rookie season full of tantalizing highs and frustrating lows. It was more of the latter last time out, as he allowed five runs on eight hits including two homers over six innings in a loss to the Orioles. The righty has two plus breaking balls in his slider and curve, but he’s not always as precise with him as he needs to be, and when he’s up in the zone too much bad things can happen.
Over/Under pick
Seattle’s offense is on a war path right now, and it’s not all Julio Rodriguez. The Mariners have scored 40 runs over their last six games, and if Brown’s command of his breaking stuff is as shaky as we’ve seen recently, they should be able to put a few on the board on Sunday as well. Houston has been more up-and-down offensively, alternating double-digit explosions with games like yesterday’s shutout loss, but Hancock is hittable and I’m banking on the Astros’ stars busting out as they hope to avoid a sweep.
Pick: Over 9
Moneyline pick
It’s hard to see Houston getting sweep on its home field, but the odds here are just too good to ignore. Any time you can get this much juice on a team that has MLB’s best record since the start of July (yes, even better than Atlanta) and has an All-Star on a heater like Rodriguez is right now, you can’t pass it up. The Mariners are rolling too well to be this heavy of a ‘dog, even in this spot.
Pick: Mariners +154
