7/25: Seattle Mariners at Texas Rangers

Miguel Batista (10-7, 4.32 ERA) vs. Brandon McCarthy (4-7, 5.53)

After the abortion that was yesterday's double header, the Mariners look to Miguel Batista to stop the bleeding. He's been a solid pitcher lately after a very rocky start, and looks to try to break the Mariners' current 5-game losing streak. The slumping offense has a decent chance to save some face against the Rangers' terrible starting pitching by laying into young Brandon McCarthy.

However, McCarthy is the type of pitcher that can give the Seattle offense fits. He struggles with command (4.40 BB/9, 1.23 K/BB) which could be problematic, as the Mariners' are dead last in the American League at drawing walks. McCarthy misses out of the zone a lot, and the Mariners, being the free-swingers that they are, tend to bail out pitchers who have poor control by swinging at bad pitches.

Miguel Batista could struggle tonight as well. As I talked about in yesterday's game preview, Ameriquest isn't kind to flyball pitchers. Bastista, historically a groundball pitcher, seems to be taking advantage of Safeco Field's spacious outfield and heavy air by allowing more balls to be hit in the air (yes, this is a controllable skill for pitchers). His career GB% is 50.5% (1.68 GB/FB), but this year that has dipped to 44.4% (1.13 GB/FB).