The Seattle Mariners have struggled to start September as they have lost three of their first four games this month including a 3-6 loss on the road against the Cincinnati Reds in game one of the series on Monday which included one-run home runs hit by Julio Rodriguez in the 4^th inning and Mike Ford in the 5^th inning. However, the Seattle Mariners are tied for 1^st place with the Houston Astros in the AL West with a record of 77-60.

The Cincinnati Reds trail the Milwaukee Brewers by 5.5 games for 1^st place in the NL Central, however, the Reds are in a six-team race for the three Wild Card spots in the National League along with the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, Arizona Diamondbacks, Miami Marlins, and San Francisco Giants and are tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the final Wild Card spot. 

The Reds have won three of their first five games in September which includes Monday’s 6-3 win at home against the Seattle Mariners in game one of the series. Three of the six runs for Cincinnati came in the 2^nd inning when Spencer Steer hit a three-run home run that also scored Noelvi Marte and TJ Friedl.

BookMaker has the Seattle Mariners listed as -165 money line favorites on the road against the Cincinnati Reds in game two of the series on Tuesday. Seattle has won seven of the last ten games and has won by an average margin of .1 runs per game while the Reds have won two of the last three games in the series by an average of 2.33 runs per game in those matchups.

Seattle has the advantage at pitcher on Tuesday as the Mariners will send Bryce Miller to the mound while the Reds will send Connor Phillips to the mound for game two of the series. Miller is 8-4 this season with a 3.93 ERA while recording 100 strikeouts while Phillips will be making his major league debut for the Reds against the Mariners on Tuesday.

Bryce Miller is 1-0 with two no-decisions in his last three starts this season while allowing three runs and striking out 13 in those matchups with his last start coming at home against the Oakland Athletics in which Miller allowed three runs and struck out five batters in a no-decision.

Both teams are making their playoff push in September as the Seattle Mariners are tied for 1^st place in the AL West with the Houston Astros in what is likely to be a three-team race for the division title along with the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers while the Cincinnati Reds are tied for the final Wild Card spot in the National League with the Arizona Diamondbacks in what should be a six-team race for the three Wild Card spots along with the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants, and Miami Marlins. Seattle has been the better team in the series, winning seven of the last ten games while winning by an average margin of .1 runs per game over the last ten games in the series. 

I look for that trend to continue on Tuesday when the Seattle Mariners take on the Cincinnati Reds on the road for game two of the series which is why I am taking the money line for the Seattle Mariners at -165 on BookMaker for this matchup on Tuesday evening.