Mariners vs. Royals prediction and odds for Wednesday, August 16 (Back Witt's bat)

There hasn't been much great pitching in this series as yesterday the Seattle Mariners took a 10-8 win over the Kansas City Royals to even the series at a game apiece.

Today, in Game 3 of four, the Mariners will send Luis Castillo to the mound against James McArthur. Castillo is 8-7 with a 3.14 ERA and McArthur is making his first start, but has a 13.50 ERA in five games. 

Castillo will hope to provide a strong start for the 64-55 Mariners in a series that’s been all offense. The 39-82 Royals will lean on their bullpen and hope that their lineup can come through again. 

Let’s get into the odds for Game 3 of four at Kauffman Stadium. 

Luis Castillo was very good last time out, going six innings and giving up just one run on two hits with eight strikeouts. The start prior, he allowed three home runs and has given up 23 on the year, so his FIP is 3.92 and his xERA is 3.70.

Giving up hard hit balls against the Royals isn’t a good idea right now, because their lineup is on fire.

Over the last 30 days the Royals are sixth in runs scored, one spot ahead of the Mariners. Kansas City has an .805 team OPS led by Bobby Witt Jr. who has a 1.031 OPS over that stretch with six doubles, a triple, seven home runs, and seven steals.

He’s turned into the five-tool superstar that the Royals expected and has suddenly given one of the worst teams in baseball a lot of life. 

Witt Jr. hit a grand slam last night and will need to do something heroic again because the KC bullpen has a 6.02 ERA since July 1, which is 28th in baseball.

The total is only set at nine runs and I could see Seattle clearing that itself and still not being a certainty to win the game. 

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change