Mariners vs. Royals prediction and odds for Monday, August 14 (Gilbert Great Again)

The eight game win streak that the Seattle Mariners rode into the weekend feels like ancient history after dropping games on Saturday and Sunday to the Baltimore Orioles and losing the series. Now, the Mariners are 63-54 and looking to bounce back against the 38-81 Kansas City Royals in the first of four games tonight.

For Game 1 we will see Logan Gilbert and Brady Singer on the mound at Kauffman Stadium. Gilbert is 10-5 with a 3.66 ERA in 23 starts and is coming off unquestionably his best outing of the year. Singer’s numbers are a lot worse at 8-8 with a 5.05 ERA, but he’s also been his best self lately.

Last time he took the mound, Logan Gilbert went seven scoreless innings and gave up just one hit with 12 strikeouts and no walks. He had everything working against the Padres that night and with a FIP of 3.43 and an xERA of 3.59 I think we can expect more good outings from Gilbert. He also has a 95th percentile walk rate which means the Royals who are already 29th in on base percentage will really struggle to get base runners. The Royals are dead last in baseball in walks. 

I wouldn’t expect many base runners for the Royals, but it could also be tough for Seattle against Singer who has a 2.45 ERA across his last four starts. In that stretch of 25.2 innings he has 27 strikeouts to five walks with only one home run allowed. He is still in the bottom one percent of pitchers in hard hit rate, but he’s improving with a 4.94 xERA and a 4.00 FIP.

The Mariners eight game win streak was powered by their pitching not their bats, they only allowed 20 total runs across those eight games and seven came in a 9-7 win over the Angels. Over the past 15 days their 2.51 ERA is third in the MLB. I’ll trust pitching tonight and take the under. 

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change