Texas Rangers (12-12, fourth in the AL West) vs. Seattle Mariners (17-11, first in the AL West)
Seattle; Friday, 10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Rangers: Shelby Miller (1-1, 7.63 ERA, 2.09 WHIP, 6 strikeouts) Mariners: Yusei Kikuchi (1-1, 4.68 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 23 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: Texas enters the game as losers of their last four games.
The Mariners are 8-4 against the rest of their division. Seattle ranks eighth in the majors in hitting with a .262 batting average, Daniel Vogelbach leads the club with an average of .312.
The Rangers are 9-10 against division opponents. The Texas pitching staff owns a team ERA of 5.99, Lance Lynn leads the staff with a mark of 6.51. The Mariners won the last meeting 14-2. Marco Gonzales notched his fifth victory and Tim Beckham went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs for Seattle. Taylor Hearn took his first loss for Texas.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jay Bruce leads the Mariners with nine home runs and is slugging .597. Ryon Healy is 7-for-34 with three doubles, two home runs and eight RBIs over the last 10 games for Seattle.
Shin-Soo Choo leads the Rangers with 14 extra base hits and is batting .310. Joey Gallo is 14-for-36 with three doubles, a triple, four home runs and 11 RBIs over the last 10 games for Texas.
LAST 10 GAMES: Mariners: 4-6, .233 batting average, 4.24 ERA, outscored opponents by five runs
Rangers: 5-5, .269 batting average, 6.75 ERA, outscored by 12 runs
Mariners Injuries: Sam Tuivailala: 10-day IL (achilles), Hunter Strickland: 60-day IL (lat), Wade LeBlanc: 10-day IL (oblique), Gerson Bautista: 10-day IL (pectoral), Kyle Seager: 60-day IL (hand), Jay Bruce: day-to-day (quad).
Rangers Injuries: Edinson Volquez: 60-day IL (elbow), Drew Smyly: 10-day IL (arm), Yohander Mendez: 60-day IL (elbow), Luke Farrell: 60-day IL (jaw), Scott Heineman: 60-day IL (shoulder), Rougned Odor: 10-day IL (knee), Ronald Guzman: 10-day IL (hamstring), Asdrubal Cabrera: day-to-day (calf).
