Mariners Game #31 Preview: 5/3/24, SEA at HOU

the Mariners begin another road trip with a rare face-off against a division rival

Somehow, the two Texas teams have already faced each other twice, while the Mariners have seen one (1) in-division rival so far this season; they’ll see their second this series, as they travel to Houston to take on the Astros, who have stumbled out of the gate so far this season.

However, that stumble doesn’t prevent FanGraphs from favoring the Astros in every game of this series: Logan Gilbert has been given the lowest odds of any start in the series with Framber Valdez, now healthy, opposing him on the mound, but even Bryce Miller, who has been excellent, couldn’t pull a winning draw against Hunter Brown, who has not. Read more in our series preview here.

Lineups:

Righty on the mound for Houston means Rojas is back in the leadoff spot:

It’s City Connect night in Houston. What do you think of the Astros’ CC jerseys? I have to grudgingly admit they are Good, although I wish they’d gotten at least a little creative with the colorway. You have SPACE STUFF, if that’s not a perfect opportunity for some silver spangles and galactic glitter I don’t know what is.

Today’s game information:

Game time: 5:10 PT

TV: ROOT Sports NW, with Dave Sims and Mike Blowers

Radio: 710 AM Seattle Sports, with Rick Rizzs and Aaron Goldsmith

Today in Mariners history:

• 1990: Ken Griffey Jr. earns AL Player of the Month after hitting .388 for the month of April.
• 1998: Dan Wilson hits an inside-the-park grand slam. Video for proof:

• 2001: Edgar Martinez walks for the 1,000th time.