BEST LINE: Pinnacle +130

12:10 PM EST. The Mariners have won four in a row while scoring 24 runs over that span. The M’s just took two of three from the Tigers and they took the opener of this series last night, 7-5. Hisashi Iwakuma started the year a month after everyone else so he was a step behind. However, he’s pitched 6+ innings in each of his six starts and he also threw back-to-back, eight-inning, four hit shutout gems in his second and third starts of the year. Iwakuma’s groundball arm built on last year's 2H gains to finish in AL's Top Three in ERA/WHIP. His first half featured airtight control and superb command that he couldn't quite sustain. Even so, take that 2H and throw in equal success vL/vR and home/road. At 33, tough to dub him an ace and expect him to match last year’s numbers but we’re not paying an ace price to back him here. This is a pitcher with a 55% groundball rate and a BB/K split of 4/29 in 44 innings. His great command and groundball tilt makes him instantly playable as a pooch against the weak hitting Braves.

Mike Minor also started a month late but the difference is that Minor is a fly-ball pitcher with a career groundball/line-drive/fly-ball profile of 36%/22%/42%. This year in 37 innings, his profile is almost identical to his career profile. Furthermore, at home, Minor is 1-3 with an ERA of 5.01 Minor is a very decent pitcher that 29 other teams would love to have but in this spot, as a significant price over Iwakuma and the M’s, we’re going to play the value, as Seattle sports the better offense and Atlanta is 0-5 this season against the AL. Note the early start here.