Cano homers twice, drives in 4 in Mariners’ 11-2 victory

Meanwhile, PECOTA projected the Mariners to win 87 games, good for second in the West behind the Angels.

To be fair, it wasn’t just the computers that liked the Mariners and didn’t believe in the Royals. The Mariners have an 18-49 record when opponents outhit them. Seattle’s lineup had pieces that never seem to fit together and were hurt even further when All-Star second baseman Robinson Cano had a disastrous start to his season.

Seattle blasted Kansas City last night, preventing them from clinching at least a share of the American League Central title. Adding to the offense, Nelson Cruz was 2-for-4 at the plate to raise his average to.311 on the season.

Franklin Gutierrez missed a homer by about a foot and had to settle for a double. The Mariners can change the game with one swing of the bat, ranking fifth in the league with 187 home runs.

But the offense has had plenty of problems otherwise. “It makes it a lot easier to pitch in those situations”.

The hitting has been strong for a while now, but the pitching finally caught up this past week. Accordingly, the Mariners have the worst Defensive Runs Saved in the league at -46.

The Mariners led 6-0. The Royals will miss ace Felix Hernandez in this series, who has been solid but plagued by a poor second half.

The Mariners produced a seven-run roll in the third inning, which Ketel Marte started with a triple past first. Iwakuma does not throw very hard but has been a reliable groundball pitcher with a plus split-fingered fastball.

Mariners: LHP Roenis Elias is 1-1 with a 6.46 ERA in three career starts against Royals.

He had won four of his last five starts at Kauffman Stadium and was 23-16 in 28 career home starts for the Royals. None of the pitchers ahead of him were scheduled to start on Tuesday, meaning Guthrie could finish the night tied for first with 29.

With a 73-77 record, it doesn’t look like the Seattle Mariners are going to be making the playoffs this season. The team designated closer Fernando Rodney for assignment back in August, eventually shipping him to the Cubs. But the 36-year-old right-hander has been inconsistent this season.

Davis is 7-1 with an 0.88 ERA and has converted 13 of 14 save chances this year. Players who need to get going are Alex Gordon, Eric Hosmer and it be nice to see Alcides Escobar return to his early season form among others.

There are just 11 games left on the schedule for the Mariners, but three games against the Houston Astros take place at Safeco Field next week (September 28-30).

Last postseason, fans in Kansas City celebrated a ridiculous comeback win over the A’s in the wild card and the subsequent run to the World Series. Kansas City has been struggling lately, but finishing strong can alleviate a lot of concerns.

The Sabermetricians have been trying to tell us this for years, but where they get it wrong is when they turn it into a value judgement.