Game 7: Rangers (4-2) vs. Mariners (4-3)

The final game of the series and homestand.

Vargas has started nine games against the Rangers over the past three years, going 3-4 with a 4.53 ERA, which means he gives up a run every other inning. Not good for the mariners. Vargas has a 1-0 record right now and has already started two games. He has a 2.31 ERA but a career 4.49 ERA... so I'm going to go with his career on this one and say that he did a good job against the A's in both of his starts.

Rangers vs. Vargas:

• Nelson Cruz hits .313 (5-16) with 3 homeruns and 4 RBIs
• Ian Kinsler hits .400 (8-20) with 4 doubles, a homerun, and 3 RBIs
• Michael Young hits .417 (10-24) with a double and 3 RBIs
• Mike Napoli hits .348 (8-23) with 2 doubles, 2 homeruns, and 2 RBIs

The Rangers see the ball well when Vargas pitches, batting .275 (current roster) with 9 homeruns and 18 RBIs (which really should be higher, but I think Vargas is holding a lot of solo homeruns in this mix).

Holland has a 4.50 ERA right now after one start, but I believe that this year he will finish with an ERA under 4.00, as last year he tossed a 3.95 ERA, I think this year will be better than that. Over the last three years, he has a 5-1 record against Seattle with a 3.17 ERA and has held the M's to a .226 batting average during that time.

Mariners vs. Holland:

• Chone Figgins bats .313 (5-16) with a double and 2 RBIs
• Frankling Gutierrez bats .286 (4-14) with a double
• Justin Smoak bats .364 (4-11) with a double and RBI
• Ichiro Suzuki bats .240 (6-25) with 2 doubles and 3 RBIs

Forecast: I like the Rangers in this one. I have to admit, Joe Nathan is starting to make me nervous, but I will try to keep the faith in our closer to do his job. Rangers take this one, 6-2.

Game 6: Rangers (4-1) vs. Mariners (3-3)

A familiar face comes to visit... hopefully we will make sure it isn't a pleasant visit.

Millwood's first start of the season for the Mariners. Is there a team that Millwood hasn't pitched for in his career? He's on his seventh team and fourth in his last four seasons. I'd list them, but I need to conserve space, so what I'll do is just list the important ones: Texas Rangers.

Millwood has some history against the Rangers, whose current roster bats .289 with 6 HRs and 14 RBIs. His last start against the Rangers, he gave up six runs in six innings in a loss. The Rangers clocked two homeruns, one by Vlad and one by Josh and they both were three run shots. That game was back on 8/22/10.

Colby Lewis has done well against the Mariners the past couple of seasons, going 4-2 with a 2.45 ERA in seven starts. He's also averaged 7.1 innings per start on the M's and fanned more than one per inning in the process.

Mariners vs Lewis:

• Ichiro Suzuki bats .375 (18-48) with a double, triple, and 5 RBIs.
• Franklin Gutierrez bats .375 (6-16) with a double, 2 homeruns, and 5 RBIs.
• Chone Figgins hits .313 (5-16) with a double and an RBI.
• Justin Smoak hits .750 (3-4) with a double, HR, and an RBI.

The current Mariner roster is batting .275 (41-149) on Lewis with 7 doubles, a triple, 4 homeruns, and 16 RBIs.

Forecast: Another close game? Maybe so. But my gut is telling me the Mariners take this one... not sure why. This is probably be something like 5-3, Mariners, but obviously that is not what I want to happen. Maybe I'm wrong this time? One can hope.