MARINERS NIP SLUMPING PADRES TO EXTEND SERIES STREAK

The general idea of interleague baseball is that the games are supposed to be competitive affairs designed to highlight the parity between the AL and NL.  When the San Diego Padres are involved, however, that’s simply not the case.  The Seattle Mariners defeated the Padres 4-3 at Petco Park on Wednesday night, San Diego’s 13^th straight loss against American League teams.  That’s a MLB record for interleague futility, and the Padres owe most of that to the Mariners—San Diego has lost 10 straight at home to Seattle and 16 of 20 meetings between the teams overall.

The Mariners’ financial backers cashed tickets with their victory as +105 road underdogs, with the 7 combined runs just staying UNDER the posted total of 8.  8 of the last 14 meetings between the two sides overall have gone UNDER, as have 5 of the last 8 played in San Diego and both games this season.  Seattle has gone UNDER in 21 of 34 road games this season, and in 9 of their last eleven games overall (9 UN, 1 OV, 1 push).  San Diego has now gone UNDER in 3 straight and 4 of their last six games after five straight OVER verdicts. 

Garrett Olsen (2-1) picked up the win for Seattle despite allowing two home runs in the contest.  The round trippers were the only hits he allowed in six innings of work, accounting for three earned runs but turned the game over to the M’s bullpen with a lead.  After the contest, he gave a lot of credit to the relief staff:

“I just feel each time I go out there like I can just challenge guys. I felt really good coming out of the bullpen. I primarily just went after them with fastballs, just challenging them and trying to use this ballpark to my advantage."

He continued to explain the two home runs he allowed:

"The first one, trying to go inside, I just left it over the plate. The second one, he saw fastballs inside pretty much the whole at-bat and I tried to go back in there and he did a great job adjusting. In hindsight, maybe going away from him or even going with an off-speed pitch there would have been a good call, but I went after him and he did a great job of making that adjustment."

Chad Gaudin (2-6) took the loss for San Diego, allowing 4 runs (3 earned) on 6 hits in six innings of work.  He struck out 8 and walked one.  After the game Padres’ manager Bud Black blamed the loss on his team’s inability to make anything happen against Seattle pitching:

"We just couldn't muster anything against their pitching. We have to get more guys on base to put stress on their pitcher.

San Diego will try to change their fortune against the ‘Junior Circuit’ on Thursday afternoon, as Josh Geer takes the mound for the home team.  He’ll be opposed by Seattle’s Brandon Morrow.  The game is priced as a pick with both sides -110, and the total set at 8.  San Diego better hope their luck against the AL improves quickly, as they welcome the Oakland A’s to town for a three game set beginning on Friday and head up to the Jet City for another crack at the pesky Mariners starting on Monday.