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Game No. 84 Preview: Houston Astros vs. Seattle Mariners

Astros look for two in a row against the Mariners.

By Ryan Dunsmore
Bob Levey/Getty Images

Houston Astros (44-39) vs. Seattle Mariners (43-40), July 5, 2016, 7:10 PM CDT

TV: Root Sports SW
Online: MLB.TV
Radio: KBME SportsTalk 790 AM, La Nueva 94.1 FM (En Español) 
Mariners SB Nation Blog: Lookout Landing

Pitching Matchup

LHP Dallas Keuchel (5-9, 5.13 ERA, 1.42 WHIP) vs. RHP Taijuan Walker (4-6, 3.29 ERA, 1.12 WHIP)

Preview

The Astros look for their second win a row against the Mariners a day after a victory on Independence Day. The Astros will send out Dallas Keuchel who is still looking for his Cy Young form in back-to-back starts.

Keuchel appeared to be figuring things out in June at times as he posted three quality starts during the month. But he was still 2-3 with a 4.30 ERA over six starts. The record of course isn't 100% on him but wasn't as sharp as he ever was in 2015 and 2014 for that matter. Keuchel is still struggling hitting his spot with his fastballs and giving up the long ball on the first pitch of at-bats.

Keuchel is 4-5 with a 3.09 ERA ERA in 10 career starts (11 appearances) against the Mariners. Current Mariners are batting .270 (51x189) against Keuchel with a 4.29 FIP, .307 BABIP, 22 K%, and a 5.9 BB%.

SEATTLE MARINERS CAREER STATISTICS VS. DALLAS KEUCHEL
BATTER AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS
Norichika Aoki 15 4 1 0 0 4 0 2 0.267 0.267 0.333 0.600
>Robinson Cano 26 7 0 0 1 5 1 2 0.269 0.296 0.385 0.681
Nelson Cruz 20 8 1 0 2 5 3 4 0.400 0.458 0.750 1.208
Franklin Gutierrez 12 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 0.083 0.083 0.083 0.167
Chris Iannetta 20 6 3 0 1 2 6 5 0.300 0.462 0.600 1.062
Dae-Ho Lee 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.200 0.200 0.200 0.400
Adam Lind 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Ketel Marte 10 2 1 0 0 1 0 6 0.200 0.200 0.300 0.500
Leonys Martin 23 5 1 0 0 6 0 10 0.217 0.217 0.261 0.478
Stefen Romero 10 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0.300 0.300 0.600 0.900
Kyle Seager 31 8 0 0 1 1 0 6 0.258 0.258 0.355 0.613
Seth Smith 13 4 1 0 2 4 1 3 0.308 0.357 0.846 1.203
Jesus Sucre 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Mike Zunino 12 3 1 0 0 0 1 4 0.250 0.308 0.333 0.641

Taijuan Walker takes the mound of the Mariners with the team looking for the 23-year-old to be the ace the team needs with Felix Hernandez on the shelf. Walker was 2-1 with a 3.25 ERA in five June starts, he allowed just one run on four hits over 6 1/3 innings against the Orioles in his last start on June 30.

Walker is 5-2 with a 3.98 ERA in 10 career starts against the Astros. Nearly 20 percent of Walkers career starts (10x52) have come against the Astros over four major league seasons.Current Astros batting .279 (34x122) against Walker with a .301 BABIP, 5.57 FIP, .301 BABIP, 24.6 K%, and a 4.5 BB%.

HOUSTON ASTROS CAREER STATISTICS VS. TAIJUAN WALKER
BATTER AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS
Jose Altuve 23 8 3 0 1 3 0 0 0.348 0.375 0.609 0.984
Jason Castro 14 1 0 0 0 0 0 9 0.071 0.071 0.071 0.143
Carlos Correa 9 2 1 0 1 1 1 2 0.222 0.300 0.667 0.967
Evan Gattis 15 5 1 0 2 4 0 3 0.333 0.333 0.800 1.133
Carlos Gomez 4 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0.250 0.500 0.250 0.750
Marwin Gonzalez 15 4 1 0 2 4 0 2 0.267 0.267 0.733 1.000
Jake Marisnick 4 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0.500 0.667 0.500 1.167
Colby Rasmus 14 5 2 0 1 1 0 5 0.357 0.357 0.714 1.071
Jon Singleton 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.000 0.667 0.000 0.667
George Springer 13 3 0 0 1 3 1 6 0.231 0.267 0.462 0.728
Preston Tucker 6 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0.167 0.167 0.167 0.333
Luis Valbuena 11 2 0 0 1 2 2 5 0.182 0.286 0.455 0.740
Tyler White 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0.000 0.333 0.000 0.333

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