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SteemSports Presenter: Nolan Jacobson, @theprophet0, STEEM Witness & PeerPlays Witness.

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Game Information

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Friday, June 9th

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7:10 PM Pacific Time

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9:10 PM Central Time

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10:10 PM Eastern Time

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Safeco Field

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Pitcher Showdown

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Pitching for the Blue Jays will be the former relief pitcher, now starting pitcher, Joe Biagini! And, did you know that there are 40 rounds in the MLB Draft? Well, if you didn't know, now you know, and Joe Biagini was picked in the 26th round by the San Francisco Giants! Obviously, the chances were very slim for Biagini to even get a chance to play one MLB game, but, last year, in his rookie season, after waiting 5 years to be called up, played in 60 games, as a relief pitcher, and picked up 4 victories and gave up 3 defeats, while throwing 62 strikeouts, and pitching a 3.06 ERA. I mean, what more can you ask out of a rookie relief pitcher? Looking at these stats he seems to be very solid!

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Half way through this season, Biagini was called out of the bullpen to become a starting pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays. Through twenty games, his stats have not been very good, he has only won one game and he has gave up four defeats, he's thrown only 43 K's but his ERA is pretty solid at a 3.31. Biagini is currently riding a three game losing streak, but in the last game, he only gave up one run while the relief pitchers who came in for him after the seventh inning gave up 6. All in all, he will try to turn his cold streak into a hot streak tonight!

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Taking the mound for the beat up Mariners is the rookie, Sam Gaviglio. Sam, who was drafted in the same draft class as his opposing pitcher in 2011, was chose in the fifth round. Surprisingly, this is Sam's rookie year, most players who are drafted from the 1st-5th round are usually called up within a year or two, but, that was not the case for Sam as he had to wait 6 years before getting a shot at the big leagues.

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Surprisingly, the rookie pitcher has been off to a hot start, through 5 games, the pitcher has received two victories and only one defeat, he's thrown only 14 K's, but keep in mind, he is a ground ball pitcher, and is ERA sits at a 3.13. Sam is currently riding a two game win streak and he will look to get on a three game win streak tonight versus the Blue Jays batters!

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Toronto Blue Jays

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The Blue Jays will be coming into this game one one days of rest. In their last game on Wednesday, in Oakland, they ended up coming out on top 7-5, Smoak hit two homers, Kevin Pillar hit one homer, and Josh Donaldson hit one homer as well in that game. The Blue Jays, 39-31, have been anything from spectacular this year, many of their star players have not lived up to the expectations, unfortunately.

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But, even though the Jays are in last place in the AL East division, their hopes are not shattered yet as they only have a 6.5 game separation from first! But, that being said, they will need to get their stuff together very soon, so they don't fall any more behind. This year, the Blue Jays do not lead the league in any main statistics, their best stat is the fact that their ranked 8th in the league for home runs hit.

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And even worse, the Jays only have one single player batting over .300. And, that is pretty embarrassing, to say the least. Arguably though, the best batter on the team this year is the veteran, Justin Smoak who is batting .291 through 59 games with 17 home runs and 42 RBI's. And, unfortunately, things just got even more worse as their second best player, Devon Travis, will be placed on the disabled list. Also, keep in mind, it's not just their bats that are bad, their pitching isn't the best as 3 of the starting pitchers have ERA's over a 4.04. That being said, the Blue Jays will do everything they can to turn the tables and start winning some more games!

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Seattle Mariners

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The Mariners will begin their three game series with the Toronto Blue Jays tonight. The Mariners, 30-31, have had a very good season considering all the injuries they have dealt with along the season including the fact they are missing four of their starting pitchers do too multiple injuries as well as missing many key batters from injuries.

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The Mariners are currently in third place in their AL West division, but they are a whopping 13 games behind the leader, who will most likely win the division, the Houston Astros. If the Mariners want a shot at competing in the playoffs, their best chance is to secure a wild card spot, which is very possible at this point.

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Unlike the Blue Jays, the Mariners are actually good in a few main stats, they are 4th in the league in OBP%, they are 8th in the league in runs scored, and they are 9th in the league in batting average. Which is not bad at all considering all the injuries their key players have suffered this season. And, unlike the Blue jays, once again the Mariners actually have more than one player batting over .300, in fact, they have 3! Jean Segura is batting .341, Mitch Haniger is batting .342, and Nelson Cruz is batting .300! To go along with those stellar batting averages, 7 players on the team already have 9+ doubles on the year! All in all, if the Mariners want to come out on top, it will mostly be in their pitching, as we can tell their bats are pretty hot this year.

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