The Seattle Mariners and the Texas Rangers will wrap-up a three game series at Rangers Park in Arlington this 4th of July Holiday in a clash of AL West rivals. Thursday’s game is set to get underway at 8:05 p.m. (ET) and it will be available on MLB Extra Innings.

Seattle set off some early fireworks with its bats in Tuesday night’s series opener with a 9-2 romp as a 147 road underdog. The total went “over” the 9.5-run line and it has now gone over in nine of its last 10 games.

The Rangers are still 7-3 in their last 10 games despite the loss and just a half a game behind Oakland in the division race at 48-35 overall. They are 24-17 at home this season and before Tuesday’s game the total had stayed “under” in six of their previous six contests.

Mariners vs. Rangers Betting Storylines

The Mariners remain 12.5 games in back of the Athletics in the AL West heading into Wednesday’s Game 2 with an overall record of 36-47. They have really struggled to grind out wins on the road with a record of 15-25 but they are 4-4 in their last eight games away from home. Seattle’s pitching has been decent with a team ERA of 4.11 but it is ranked 14th in the American League in runs scored with an average 3.7 a game. Most of the production has come from Kendrys Morales and Raul Ibanez. These two have combined to knock-in 94 runs while hitting 31 home runs.

Look for Hisashi Iwakuma to get the start for the Mariners on Thursday night. The right-hander comes into this matchup with an overall record of 7-3 and an impressive 2.42 ERA. He has had trouble with the long ball lately; giving-up five home runs in his past two starts. Lifetime against the Rangers he is 2-2 with an ERA of 3.86.

Texas continues to be one of the most balanced ball clubs in the AL this season. It is ranked second in the league in pitching with a team ERA of 3.67 and its .260 team batting average is ranked sixth. The only real issue has been the Rangers’ ability to consistently get runners across the plate. They are ranked ninth in scoring with an average of 4.3 runs a game. However, Nelson Cruz continues to light things on a nightly basis with 61 RBI and 20 home runs.

Martin Perez is scheduled to be on the mound in the series finale as the Rangers’ starter. He was recalled from Triple-A on June 22 and has been impressive in two starts by allowing just two earned runs in just over 13 innings of work. On the year, the left-hander is 2-1 with a 2.37 ERA in a total of three starts. Over the course of his career, he is 0-1 against Seattle with a 2.89 ERA.

Mariners vs. Rangers Betting Odds and Trends

BetOnline has opened the Mariners as +130 road underdogs for Thursday night’s series finale with Texas listed as a 140 home favorite. The total has been set at 9.

The Mariners are 6-13 in their last 19 road games but 9-3 in Iwakuma’s last 12 starts against a team from the AL West. The total has gone over in their last five division games.

The Rangers are 38-16 in Game 3 of their last 54 series but just 2-6 in Perez’s last eight starts. The total has stayed under in 22 of their last 31 home games.

Head-to-head in this matchup, the home team is 5-3 in the last eight meetings and the total has gone over in four of the last five games. Texas has a slight 6-4 advantage in this season’s series and is 3-1 in four previous meetings at home.

Mariners vs. Rangers Predictions

Texas is obviously the better overall team, but the edge in this contest goes to Seattle with Iwakuma on the mound. The Rangers’ bats have been struggling as of late and it will be hard to break out of this funk against one of the Mariners’ best starters. Winning on the road has not been easy for Seattle but it does just enough to squeeze-out a victory on Thursday night.

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