The Mariners can only hope the New York Yankees have a hangover Thursday afternoon as Seattle looks to avoid a three-game home sweep.
The Yankees (89-63) won the American League playoffs on Wednesday night with a 2-1 victory in 10 innings. Anthony Rizzo drove in both of New York’s runs, the second with a double down the right field line to score pinch runner Jason Dominguez.
New York is back in the postseason after missing out last year.
“It’s a lot of things that come together,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Probably better health overall. Definitely more focus on guys coming through tough years and the more we put in, the better we are. We weren’t a good team last year, and this team has a chance to do something special.”
Yankees reliever Aaron Judge, who leads the majors in home runs (53) and RBIs (136), agreed.
“(It’s going to be exciting) for sure, especially after the season we had last year and missed the postseason,” said Judge, who is ranked second to Bobby Witt Jr. for Kansas City with a .321 batting average. “That’s what we came for this season, to get into the postseason and give ourselves a chance to go out and win the World Series.”
The Yankees have secured at least a wild card spot, but they are focused on the AL East title. They have a five-game lead over the Baltimore Orioles with 10 games remaining.
“Our goal is to win this division. That’s what we want to do,” said Yankees pitcher Juan Soto. “We will focus on that and try to finish the season strong.”
The Mariners (77-75), who are five games back of the first-place Houston Astros in the AL West and three games back of the final wild-card spot, had a chance to tie Wednesday’s game at the bottom of the 10th. being the victim of what manager Dan Wilson called a “freak situation.”
Cal Raleigh lined a single to left, sending pinch runner Julio Rodriguez to third.
Randy Arozarena failed to catch the bat as he swung and missed the third at-bat, and the bat went down the third base toward Rodriguez, who went out of the way and into the foul zone. Yankees catcher Austin Wells throws the ball to third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., who tags out Rodriguez just before he rolls back to the bag.
“It was a very good game of football in all points and it was difficult to lose,” said Wilson.
Rodriguez is sitting in his locker after the game, watching the game repeatedly on his phone.
“I just saw the bat flying towards my face and I ran away. I couldn’t get back to the bag in time,” said Rodriguez. “At that point, I wasn’t really thinking about the game, I was just trying to get out of the way of the bat that was coming at me. That’s right. It’s an unusual situation.”
In the series finale, Yankees right-hander Clarke Schmidt (5-3, 2.41 ERA) is scheduled to oppose Mariners Logan Gilbert (7-11, 3.24).
This will be Schmidt’s third start since missing more than three months with a right lat strain. In outings against the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox, he allowed a total of two runs in 10 1/3 innings.
Schmidt lost to the Mariners 6-3 on May 21 at Yankee Stadium despite giving up just two runs on four hits over five innings. He is 0-1 with a 1.69 ERA in two career starts against Seattle.
Gilbert, who has lost his past three decisions, got the no-decision in a 5-4 victory over the Mariners in New York on May 20, when he allowed three runs on eight hits in six innings. Gilbert is 1-2 with a 7.18 ERA in five career starts against the Yankees.
–Field Level Media