Oddsmakers have set a total for tonight’s Seattle Mariners-Tampa Bay Rays series opener, but it might not even get that high.
Not when Jeremy Hellickson and Felix Hernandez take the mound.
Both pitchers have been spectacular through the first month of the season and will battle Monday night at Tropicana Stadium. Hellickson has won five of his last six starts at The Trop, but Hernandez has won five of his last six on the road.
Hernandez sparked a huge win at Detroit in his last start, allowing just four hits and one run over seven innings.
“He’s incredible with how he is able to work through things,” manager Eric Wedge his team’s website. “When you got your best stuff, regardless of who you are, you’re probably going to have a pretty good day. But it’s those days like today when … he had to fight through it, and he just never gave into it.”
Hellickson was just as good in his last start, surrendering one run and five hits with five strikeouts in six innings against the Angels. It was part of a great road trip in which Tampa Bay won seven of its last eight. The Rays also gave the Texas Rangers their first series loss of the year.
Hellickson is 3-0 with a 0.81 ERA lifetime against the Mariners, including an eight-inning gem against them last August.
“I think they still have pretty much the same lineup,” Hellickson told his team’s website. “I can’t tell you what I’ve done differently. I’ve been on my game in those starts, I guess.”
Seattle, in the middle of its own road trip, hasn’t been quite as hot. It won four in a row before dropping its next two to the Toronto Blue Jays this weekend. The Mariners are still among the majors worst hitting teams, batting just .239 combined on the year and have been shut out four times. But they are averaging 4.35 runs per game and are treading water in the AL West.
Tampa Bay is 8-1 at home this year, including a sweep of the New York Yankees to start the year. It has won 36 of its last 52 at Tropicana Field, gaining a distinct home-field advantage over the last year. But Hernandez has been good against the Rays, striking out 67 batters in as many innings, while keeping their hitters at a paltry .163 batting average.
Even with King Felix on the bumb, Bovada is favoring the Rays by 1 1/2 runs with a -136 moneyline.