I expected the Mariners to start the season hot but that hasn't happened. Seattle is just 4-9 and enters Friday's matchup with Houston losers of five straight. However, four of those losses have come by one run and I expect the breaks to start going the Mariners' way soon. Houston has lost four straight themselves, allowing 35 runs over that stretch. Look for Seattle's bats to get going tonight and Emerson Hancock to do enough on the mound after two quality starts where he allowed just one run over 12.2 innings.

Tatsuya Imai struck out nine batters last time out and gets a Mariners lineup that's been near league worst for strikeouts against right handed pitchers so far. Some of the metrics from last year on these hitters skew towards them being better but as for now, I'll bet against them. Seattle returns home from a road trip, and Imai gets to pitch in one of the best pitchers parks in MLB, facing a lineup that struggled last season to not strikeout on the slider. If he can avoid the walks and lean into his whiff heavy slider, he should be able to rack up strikeouts, so I am going with a 6,7,8 Ks ladder as well!

DraftKings. Tatsuya Imai rebounded from an auspicious first start with nine strikeouts in 5.2 scoreless frames against the A’s. He’ll now face the Mariners whose bats are once again dormant to start the season, especially at home. We’re still in projection mode when it comes to Imai, but his two primary pitches profile as upper echelon swing and miss types, and of course we have the added bump of the Mariners not having seen the righty before. I have him projected right at 6, and would bet this to -110.