Skenes And Gilbert Will Post Zeros All Day

Mariners vs. Pirates, 6:40 ET

A solid 2-0 day for the Outkick Bets readers as I was able to grab a win in the one MLB play I had and the one WNBA play that I put in was, once again, no sweat whatsoever. The MLB play was on the game between the Red Sox and the Orioles and Baltimore was able to coast to a victory. Baltimore won the game 5-1 but we had a play on the first five innings. The Orioles were leading 3-1 after five and added another run in the sixth and seventh to shut the door on Boston. Let's look to grab another MLB win here as the Mariners take on the Pirates.

I kind of feel bad for the Mariners. They seem like they are fighting for their life every day of this season. For a while, they had a fairly comfortable lead in the division, with both the Rangers and Astros struggling. Seattle has never looked like a true dominant team or anything - and they still don't at just four games above .500. What they do have is a very strong pitching staff that has helped them mask that they have virtually no offensive production all season. The team is leading the league in strikeouts and has the fewest hits in the Majors. They are one of two teams with fewer than 900 hits at this point in the season, the other team is… the White Sox, who are the worst team in the league. Again, the pitching has masked that, and tonight they get a guy who should be considered for the Cy Young award. Logan Gilbert takes the mound and has a 2.91 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, and 149 strikeouts. His ERA is 7th, his WHIP is 1st, and he's tied for 14th in strikeouts. The dude has been lights out the majority of this season, and in two starts this month he has been even better. Over 13 innings pitched in August, Gilbert has allowed just seven hits, one solo home run, one walk, and 13 strikeouts. Gilbert is slightly worse on the road than at home this season, but the Pirates offense isn't great either. The Mariners right-hander has held Pirates hitters to just five hits over 30 at-bats against him.

Seattle Mariners RHP Logan Gilbert pitches against the Los Angeles Angels at T-Mobile Park. (Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports)

The Pirates are in quite the free-fall right now. This is somewhat similar to what Pittsburgh went last year. At the All-Star Break, the Pirates were 48-48, in a position where it looked like they might add to the team and even find a way to try and make a playoff push. Now, the team is eight games under .500 and have lost 10 consecutive games. It is even worse than that though. Overall, in the second half of the season, the Pirates are 8-16 and have one just one game this month. The off-day yesterday might be exactly what they needed after a long west-coast road trip. I should also mention who they played over this stretch of 12 losses in 13 games. They faced the Diamondbacks, Padres, Dodgers, and Padres again. Those are three of the hottest teams in baseball right now. If anyone can stop a losing streak, it is tonight's starter, Paul Skenes. Skenes has been nothing short of amazing for the Pirates in his rookie campaign. He is 6-2 with a 2.25 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP. He did have a first in his career in his last outing - he allowed four earned runs in a game. Up until that point, he hadn't allowed more than three earned runs in any game. He has only faced Randy Arozarena on the Mariners. 

To me, Skenes might end up with a no-hitter and 15 strikeouts in this game. The problem is, the Pirates might not be able to score off of Gilbert. I wouldn't be surprised to see both pitchers end up with no-decisions because of how bad the offenses are. If I had to pick a team, I'd probably take the Pirates here, but this is a true coinflip with both of these hurlers on the mound. I'm taking the under 3.5 runs through five innings in this game at -135. 

I also recommend doing a ladder on strikeouts for Skenes. He is facing the team that strikes out more than any other club in baseball. I'm going to bet on 8+ strikeouts, 9+, 10+, and 11+. 

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