Series Preview: @ Seattle Mariners

The season did not open how everyone expected it to. The Mariners absolutely smoked Smoak'd the Angels and outscored them 26-8 in a three game series. After that, the Angels went to Houston and the Mariners stayed in California to face the Athletics. While the Halos played well, the M's went back-and-forth with the A's. Now the two face off in a rather small rematch series in the second week of this young 2014 season.

Unfortunately, Tyler Skaggs will not be pitching in this series as he picked up a win in Saturday's victory and C.J. Wilson took the mound yesterday. So we are left with Hector Santiago and Garrett Richards. Santiago was a little shaky but there was little confidence in him by pulling him from the game after five innings. Richards, however, has the chance to deliver with his breaking pitches.

For the M's, James Paxton gets to bring his stuff the the Angels yet again. Last Wednesday, he shutdown the Halos for seven innings. Things don't get much easier for the team on Wednesday. Roenis Elias, who did not see any major league action last season, gets to take his win against the A's to Seattle for his first home start. He may not have been great, but Elias proved he can pitch well.

If you may recall, I noted in the last Series Preview that Mike Trout was the leading face in almost every (positive) hitting category for the team. Fast forward and Josh Hamilton is a guy starting to make noise. Hamilton's face is now the leader for all hitting categories (on ESPN). He is batting .500 with two home runs and five runs batted in. Looks like the Josh Hamilton everyone wanted in Anaheim. Albert Pujols is a little stale right now, but three of his five hits this season are doubles. So that's that. Right? What are we supposed to ask of Albert now?

Justin Smoak and Robinson Cano are the two Mariners doing much of the work right now. Smoak beat up the Haloslast week, earning seven runs batted in across three games. Oh wait, that is still the amount of runs batted in Smoak has this season. So let's not jump to conclusions just yet on him. Cano, however, is earning his paycheck. But that is only because he is hitting the ball. The M's near quarter-of-a-million-dollar-man has only one extra base hit to go with two runs batted in.

Without further ado, here is the rundown.

April 8 7:10pm (rain, 55°) -- FOX Sports West, Root Sports Northwest, MLB Network

April 9 7:10pm (clear, 55°) -- FOX Sports West, Root Sports Northwest

Injuries