Oakland Athletics (54-94) vs Seattle Mariners (81-66)
Wednesday, September 21, 2022 at 9:40 pm
Left-hander Robbie Ray will take aim at his fifth career 200-strikeout season when he attempts to get the Seattle Mariners back on the right track at the expense of the host Oakland Athletics on Wednesday night.
Oakland's JP Sears limited the Mariners (81-66) to one hit and one unearned run over five innings, and four relievers threw hitless, scoreless ball the rest of the way, as the A's (54-94) dealt the Mariners a costly 4-1 defeat in their playoff pursuit in the series opener.
When a win would have allowed Seattle to move into the second American League wild-card position, Tuesday's defeat prevented the Mariners from further distancing themselves from the pursuing Baltimore Orioles, who will begin play Wednesday five back.
The Mariners hope Ray (12-10, 3.72) can turn things around both for the team and for himself. He hasn't seen the sixth inning in either of his past two starts, roughed up for a total of nine runs and 16 hits in 10 innings by the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Angels.
The 30-year-old managed 11 strikeouts in those games, bringing his season total to 194. Six more and Ray would join Max Scherzer as the only pitchers to record 200 or more strikeouts five times in the past seven seasons.