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• Seattle Mariners vs. Chicago White Sox
• Saturday, June 17 at 4:10 PM ET
• T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Washington
When you take a look at the American League, there have certainly been some teams that haven’t quite lived up to the hype this season. Case in point, we’ve got to bring up both the Chicago White Sox and the Seattle Mariners. Both clubs had aspirations to make a push for league titles this year, but they’ve been far too inconsistent. However, let’s see if they catch fire before the All-Star Game break. The two will meet this week, and the Mariners are favored to beat the White Sox on Saturday.
Which team will end up coming out on top? This is surely going to be an exciting matchup, with Seattle ready to host Chicago for this series. The White Sox indeed have been struggling as they’re currently 29-39 on the year. Let’s be real here, no one was expecting Chicago to be 10 games under .500 at this point of the season. They have so much young talent, but they haven’t been able to put things together.
| Mariners vs. White Sox odds |  |  |  |  |
| Mariners to win | -115 | -115 | -115 | -115 |
| White Sox to win | +125 | +125 | +125 | +125 |
| Over to hit | -110 | -110 | -110 | -110 |
| Under to hit | -110 | -110 | -110 | -110 |
Meanwhile for the Mariners, they are an even 33-33 on the year. While that isn’t the worst record in the bigs, it’s a bit of a disappointment for the AL West side. The Mariners reached the playoffs for the first time in 21 years last season, which provided the fanbase with a lot of excitement. The hope is that this team will be able to get back to the postseason this fall as well. Will it be the case?
For the Saturday showdown, things should be close. According to the best-rated sportsbooks, including the reliable Bovada review, the Mariners hold -115 MLB betting odds to post a win, while the White Sox have been placed at +125. Chicago is going to hope to pull off an upset, but something tells us that the Mariners will find a way to come away with a victory in front of the fans at T-Mobile Park. We’re going with Seattle as our pick.
Series 🔱on! #SeaUsRise pic.twitter.com/0PDHGoT5Oz
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) June 14, 2023
The over should hit between the Mariners and White Sox on Saturday
Leading up to the action, we think that the over should hit between the Mariners and White Sox on Saturday. Both of these teams have impressive lineups, but an issue for them has been inconsistent play from their starting pitchers. The starters have been set for the Saturday tilt: the Mariners will give right-handed pitcher Logan Gilbert the nod, while the White Sox will be going with Lucas Giolito.
Both these pitchers have the potential to be lights out when they’re on the bump, but that hasn’t been the case thus far this campaign. Giolito enters his next start with a 5-4 record and a 3.54 ERA. The four losses out of nine starts is definitely a bit of a concern for him and it’s not what fans were hoping to see from the veteran hurler. We’ll see if he’ll be able to get going vs. the Mariners in this one.
Amped Cam: Logan Gilbert
He gets through the 7th inning on consecutive K's and is likely done after holding the Padres to just one run. pic.twitter.com/H8aaxYuOoA
— Daniel Kramer (@DKramer_) June 7, 2023
As for Gilbert, the youngster has also been dealing with some command issues, as he holds a 4-4 record and 4.38 ERA. Gilbert has all the potential in the world, but he hasn’t gotten a whole lot of run support from the Seattle offense when he’s been on the hill. We think there’s a good chance that changes for him on Saturday against Chicago. Luckily for him, the Mariners have been performing better at the dish recently.
Per the oddsmakers, the over/under for this game has been set at 6.5 runs. Normally, you’d expect the under to hit because Giolito and Gilbert can spin it at times, but with both offenses hoping to put on a show, we think this could end up being a high-scoring affair. With the -110 MLB betting odds for the two teams to cover the over, we’re going with that as our pick in this case.
The Mariners are on the outside looking in for the playoffs
As things stand, the Mariners are on the outside looking in for the playoffs, which is something the fans are not happy about. What’s been rough for this team is that the slow start really killed a lot of momentum that was built last season. However, there’s still plenty of time for this club to turn things around. Manager Scott Servais will surely be relying on Julio Rodriguez, Cal Raleigh, Ty France and others to step up. Plenty of eyes are surely going to be on Luis Castillo as well.
Castillo is easily one of the best pitchers in the American League, but his 4-4 record is unreal. There’s simply no reason for him to have four losses at this point, especially with his 2.70 ERA. If the Mariners want to go on a run late in the season that will help them grab an AL Wild Card spot, then there’s no question that Castillo is going to have to be at his best. We’re confident in Castillo to step up. However, it’s up in the air if Seattle will post the needed wins to get back to the postseason again.
