Seattle Mariners vs. Detroit Tigers Series Preview: What to Know Ahead of the Matchup

The Seattle Mariners enter a major road trip with momentum still intact despite seeing their eight-game winning streak end on Wednesday. Seattle won its series against the Mets and kept a 2.5-game lead over the Athletics in the AL West. The club now begins its longest trip of the season, a 10-day journey through Detroit, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. Because the stretch includes no off day, the Mariners are expected to add Bryce Miller and Luis Castillo back into a six-man rotation.

The Detroit Tigers, meanwhile, have gone from preseason division favorites to a team searching for answers. After two straight postseason appearances and an ALDS fight against Seattle last year, Detroit looked positioned to take another step forward. Instead, the season has unraveled since ace Tarik Skubal landed on the injured list on May 4 with bone spurs in his throwing elbow. Since then, the Tigers have gone 7-21 and dropped to the bottom of the American League standings.

Skubal’s absence has been a major blow, but Detroit’s offense has also been a key reason for the slide. The Tigers averaged just 2.89 runs per game in May and scored more than five runs only three times during the month. Riley Greene, Dillon Dingler, and Kevin McGonigle have been the brightest spots in an otherwise uneven lineup. Greene is enjoying his best offensive season, though some of his production appears difficult to sustain. Dingler has emerged as one of the most improved young catchers in the league, while McGonigle has impressed in his first MLB action and has become an early favorite for AL Rookie of the Year. Detroit also recently activated Gleyber Torres and Kerry Carpenter from the injured list, leaving the lineup closer to full strength.

On the pitching side, Framber Valdez was brought in this offseason to give Detroit a dominant one-two punch with Skubal, but the results have not matched the plan. Valdez has had a rocky start, with one particularly ugly outing inflating his ERA, and his strikeout and groundball rates have both fallen below his usual standards. That drop has led to more airborne contact, a sharp contrast from his Astros days, when those traits were central to his success.

Keider Montero has stepped into a larger role after Justin Verlander’s injury and has handled the assignment reasonably well. He does not overpower hitters, but he uses his full mix effectively and generates weak contact, especially with a changeup that is difficult to square up.

Jack Flaherty has had a more volatile season. Early on, he struggled with command and walked too many hitters. More recently, his control has improved, but his breaking balls have not produced enough swing-and-miss to keep hitters off balance. That has helped push his ERA above 5.00.

Elsewhere in the AL West race, the Athletics and Rangers both won their series this week and kept pressure on Seattle. The Astros lost their series to the Pirates and fell further back, now 5.5 games out. This weekend, the A’s host the Astros in Houston, while the Rangers face the Guardians.