Seattle Mariners News: Big Series Against Oakland Athletics

The Seattle Mariners have a big series this weekend against the Oakland A’s. You could actually call it huge.

It may be a little early in the season to get overdramatic and suggest that this is a “crucial” series. Still, there are reasons that this will be a big series.

1. The Mariners are currently nine games behind the A’s. Winning the division is still not out of the question, but it would be unfortunate if the M’s went into the break with a 12-game deficit.

2. At the moment, the Mariners are holding a Wild Card spot, but their lead is only 1.5 games. If the Mariners lose this series, they could again be on the outside looking in.

3. Seattle will have their top three pitchers going this weekend. If you can’t win a series with Felix Hernandez (10-2), Hisashi Iwakuma (7-4) and Chris Young (8-5) at home, that is a small problem.

4. The idea of a “statement” game or series may be a bit hard to define depending on the context. However, if the season is winding down in September and there are crucial games against division rivals that could determine playoff spots, wouldn’t it boost the confidence of the M’s to remember that series back in July when they swept the A’s at home?

Big series. Big expectations. A series that has the possibility of shaping momentum coming out of the All-Star break. Go M’s!