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This is it.
Get your rally cap on. Wear your jersey inside out. Plaster your walls in "Refuse to Lose" banners (or whatever the kids are saying these days). Blast the Mariners' fight song. Do what you need to do.
Tonight's pitching match-up involves Hisashi Iwakuma and the Angels' Jered Weaver. It's been a rough month for Kuma, who has taken three consecutive losses and hasn't lasted more than five innings in a start. When he last faced the Angels, he gave up a season-high seven runs and two walks, striking out just four of 18 batters in 3 1/3 innings. After the right-hander's equally disastrous outing against the Astros last Sunday, Shannon Drayer reported that his command problems might have been exacerbated by minor groin and back problems, though nothing serious enough to keep him from his final start of the year.
Jered Weaver has fared slightly better over his past four starts in September, holding a 3-1 record and notching 12 strikeouts in a seven-inning appearance against the Astros -- the most strikeouts he's collected in a single game since April 2011. He's sitting 18-8 on the year with a 4.29 xFIP and 1.8 fWAR through 207 1/3 innings pitched. The 31-year-old was scratched from his start last Thursday, positioning Wade LeBlanc against the Mariners so that Weaver would be available to open the ALDS for the Angels next week.
Game info
- Mariners vs. Angels, 7:10 p.m. PST
- Tonight's game will be televised on ROOT Sports, broadcast on 710 ESPN, and available to out-of-market fans at MLB TV here. If you are not a subscriber, be sure to take advantage of MLB TV's offer this weekend: All games will be broadcast free of charge (provided that you are not in a blackout area).
- Ballpark giveaway: Team posters for every fan in attendance, as well as other prizes throughout the evening for Fan Appreciation Night
- Wild card status: The Mariners need to catch the A's, who currently have a two-game lead on them for the second wild card spot. The A's are opening their last series of the season against the Texas Rangers in Arlington. They lead the Rangers 2-1 in the third inning.