First pitch: Friday, 8:10 p.m. ET
Line: Seattle -160, Houston +150, Total: 7.5

The AL West leading Houston Astros go against their division rivals, the Seattle Mariners, in the first of three games over the weekend.

There were high hopes for the Mariners coming into the season, but while their pitching has been on point, the offense has just 208 runs (2nd-worst in league); leading to losses in nine of their last 13 games. After losing 6-of-7 at home against AL East opponents, they were able go on the road and take 2-of-3 games against the Indians most recently, missing out on the sweep with a 6-0 loss on Thursday. In the game their offense was horrible with just two hits and finished the game with three of their batters hitting under .195 on the year. Missing from the game was one of the hottest hitters this year, OF Nelson Cruz (.326), who leads the AL with 18 homers and is third in batting average. The Astros are one of the best stories of the year as they have built a competitive team through the draft and key acquisitions over the past few years, but while they still own first place in the AL West, it won’t last long if they continue their recent play. They come into this one with a seven-game losing streak as they failed to get a win in any of their games during a six-game road trip. Their offense scored a mere 16 runs (2.3 runs per game) over the losing skid and most recently lost 4-1 to the White Sox while going 0-for-7 with RISP on Wednesday. As a group, they are striking out in 24.9% of their at-bats (2nd-worst in league) with a batting average of .233 (2nd-worst in league), but have hope at improving those numbers with SS Carlos Correa (.333) joining the team and he already has four hits with a double, homer and a stolen base in his first three games. The starting pitching matchup for this contest will feature RHP Felix Hernandez (9-2, 2.51 ERA) for the visitors and LHP Brett Oberholtzer (0-1, 3.75 ERA) for the host group. Seattle’s loss on Thursday brought its record away from home to an even 14-14 on the year and they could have a tough time against this Houston group which is 19-13 in front of its fans. The Astros actually hold the edge in this series since the start of 2013, going 24-21 over that period, but have been on the losing end in 13-of-23 games at home. Trends show that the Mariners are 12-4 (.750) in June road games over the last two seasons while Houston has gone 22-14 (.611) against right-handed starts this year. The injury report has OF Nelson Cruz (Back) listed as day-to-day for Seattle as SS Jed Lowrie (Thumb) remains out for the host ‘Stros.

Hernandez has arguably been the most dominant starter in all of baseball over the past decade as evidenced by his career 3.05 ERA and 134 career wins. He has thrown at least 200 innings in each year since 2008 and never posted an ERA over 3.50 during that stretch. Hernandez has continued his elite play in 2015 with nine victories in his first 12 starts, but has benefited from batters hitting a meager .240 BABIP with 83.6% of runners being left on base. He has gone at least seven innings in 8-of-12 outings, but has seen his control falter somewhat in his last two games with a 10:8 K/BB ratio in 11.2 frames. The 29-year-old has been at his best when taking on Houston in his career, going 3-2 (4-3 team record) with a 1.84 ERA (1.25 WHIP) and has allowed just one run on 10 hits with a 17:5 K/BB ratio against them in his last two meetings (14 IP). Both 2B Jose Altuve (8-for-18, 3 doubles) and OF Colby Rasmus (7-for-10) have had success against the righty while C Jason Castro and 1B Chris Carter are a combined 4-for-25 (.160) with 12 strikeouts in the matchup. The Mariners have not had the greatest efforts out of their relievers and they are 6-15 with a 3.61 ERA (1.31 WHIP) while converting 18-of-26 (69%) save chances. Carson Smith (1.38 ERA, 2 saves) will take over the ninth inning as Rodney improves his mechanics and is perfect in his first two save opportunities.

Oberholtzer’s calling card has always been his impressive control as he walked a mere 1.8 batters per nine innings over 24 starts (143.2 IP) last year and needs that due to his low strikeout rate (5.9 BB/9 in 2014). He has started just three games in 2015, but has not shown that patented control with seven walks in his 12 innings of work as he has yet to allow a home run in that time. Oberholtzer has been unlucky during his limited work this year with batters hitting .419 BABIP. He’s been phenomenal in his two career starts against the Mariners, going 2-0 with a 1.20 ERA (0.80 WHIP) and has a 13:2 K/BB ratio in the 15 innings of work. The most success from Seattle’s offense has come off the bat of 2B Robinson Cano who is 3-for-6 against the lefty, but has also struck out three times. On the other hand, OF Dustin Ackley, OF Mark Trumbo and 3B Kyle Seager are a combined 3-for-19 (.158) with six strikeouts. The bullpen for the Astros has been amazing, going 13-9 with a 2.86 ERA (0.95 WHIP) and are 21-for-28 (75%) in saves. Luke Gregorson (4.50 ERA, 15 saves) is coming off a blown save against the Blue Jays and has given up at least one run in four of his past 10 appearances.