Game Preview No. 21: Houston Astros At Seattle Mariners

Houston Astros (6-14) vs. Seattle Mariners (10-9), Apr 26, 2016, 9:10 PM CT

TV: ROOT SPORTS Southwest
Online: MLB.TV, Astros.com
Radio: KBME 790, La Nueva 94.1 FM (En Español) 
Mariners SB Nation Blog: Lookout Landing

Pitching Matchup

LHP Dallas Keuchel (2-2, 3.71 ERA, 1.43 WHIP) vs. RHP Nathan Karns (1-1, 5.28 ERA, 1.35 WHIP)

Preview

Dallas Keuchel has suffered a rocky start to his campaign to follow-up his Cy Young Award-winning season in 2015.  In his most recent start, Keuchelangelo was fairly shelled for six runs and a career-worst thirteen hits in six innings in Arlington and has posted an ERA over 5.00 on the road since the beginning of 2015.  He will look to get back on track against Seattle right-hander Nathan Karns, who is also looking to improve his fortunes after a rocky start to the season.

Worth noting in this game, George Springer started very cold at the plate (2-17 to start the year) but has hit .328 since (20-61) with three home runs.  Preston Tucker returns to the lineup, surely thanks to IrishPete's meme goodness, in the five hole while Tyler White, who is mired in a terrible slump after a hot start to the season, moves down to the six hole.

Nathan Karns has only faced the Astros once, with Carlos Correa logging a solo home run against him last season while Jose Altuve and Preston Tucker each have a hit against him.  On the other side of the ball, several players for the Mariners have had success against Dallas Keuchel in several at bats, including Nelson Cruz (7-14, two home runs), Nori Aoki (3-8, .375 average), Chris Ianetta (5-16 with a home run), and Seth Smith (4-12 with a home run) while others (Robinson Cano, Kyle Seager, and Leonys Martin) have struggled against the southpaw.

Houston lineup:

Here's how the #Astros will line up tonight against the Mariners. pic.twitter.com/tVjdtVYEzD

— Houston Astros (@astros) April 26, 2016

Seattle lineup:

#Mariners Gameday Information - April 26 vs. #Astros: https://t.co/WXWr9Vyfi1 pic.twitter.com/XVdeHnsryh

— MarinersPR (@MarinersPR) April 26, 2016