SEATTLE MARINERS +110 ? The Mariners look very attractive to me as an underdog in this spot. Seattle is now 11-2, and they snapped out of their recent offensive funk in a big way last night in their 15-4 rout of the White Sox. Their ace Freddy Garcia has turned things around after a couple of weak outings to start the season, reeling off 4 consecutive Quality Starts, lowering his ERA to 3.93 and his WHIP to an excellent 1.23. He defeated Lilly and the Yankees in that memorable 1-0 pitcher?s duel last Saturday, pitching 8 scoreless innings while allowing just 4 hits. The Mariners are 5-2 in Garcia?s last 7 starts vs. New York. The Yankees took 2 out of 3 games in Seattle last week, but this has generally been a visitor?s series overall. In fact, the ROAD team won 7 of the 9 regular season meetings last season, with the Mariners going an impressive 5-1 at Yankee Stadium! Lilly has been pitching brilliantly, with a 1.35 ERA and an unbelievable 0.50 WHIP. However, he has always teased the Yankees with brilliant performances before, only to regress badly in his next start. While he was virtually unhittable vs. the Mariners in that 1-0 loss last week, allowing 1 hit in 8 innings, he was lit up by this same Mariners team the last time he faced them in the Bronx, allowing 7 runs (5 earned) and 6 hits in only 1.1 innings. The most telling sign about Lilly is that the Yankees are just 2-8 in his last 10 starts, meaning that even when he pitches well, he gives up key hits at the wrong time.
