The Seattle Mariners and LA Dodgers are playing on the MLB schedule on Monday night and the matchup from Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles starts at 10:10 pm ET and has James Paxton up against Brandon McCarthy in the first matchup between these teams in years and is the first interleague series for the clubs in 2015.
The Mariners are 3-3 on the season and they come in having won two games in a row against the Athletics. The team took two of three from Oakland and won back to back games in extra innings, with Nelson Cruz hitting home runs in both. Cruz hit a home run off Tyler Clippard for the winning run in the top of the 10th after the Mariners blew a 7-3 earlier in the game.
Cruz hit a homerun in the eighth inning of the previous game, which was a three run blast that gave the Mariners the lead. The team had to win that in extras anyway, but that was the first home run by Cruz in a Mariners uniform. The Mariners have not been to LA to play the Dodgers since 2009 and this will be the first game for Paxton against the Dodgers. According to ESPN.com, Paxton has pitched 10 innings against NL teams and has a .90 ERA.
McCarthy won for the dodgers in his last time out for the team, but he got banged up a bit and now he will be back on the mound. The last time he faced the M's was back in 2012 and the Dodgers have Adrian Gonzalez coming in playing very well this year already. The Mariners have not been able to get things together yet for a run of offense, but they bounced back well after getting pounded 12-0 against the A's in the opening game of that series.
Dustin Ackley has been off to a strong start for the Mariners and this comes as players like Robinson Cano and Kyle Seager have not been producing yet. The Mariners had to put Tom Wilhelmsen on the DL before this game and they got Dominic Leone in the bullpen for the time being and the man nicknamed bartender said he would be back soon after hyperextending his elbow.
The pitching has not quite been up to where it was last season for the Mariners, but they have been able to finish the first week 3-3 and are tied for first place with the Astros. The Mariners won only one of three against the Dodgers the last time these teams played and this is the first interleague matchup for the Mariners after opening against the Angels at home and playing against the Athletics on the road.
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