Series Preview: Yankees @ Mariners

Yankees @ Mariners
Safeco Field
(4 games)

The Yankees just completely a very successful seven-game homestand that saw them go 6-1 and increase their lead in the AL East from 2.5 games to 6 (Thank you Justin Verlander!) If it wasn't for one bad throw the Yankees would have swept the Jays and the homestand. At 71-43 the Yankees are at a season-high 28 games over .500, and have the best record in baseball.

They make their first trip of the season to Seattle a little banged up. Blue Jays pitchers hit both Derek Jeter (foot) and Alex Rodriguez (elbow) and both are listed as day-to-day. Mariano Rivera has a sore shoulder, but should be available this series. And Jorge Posada took a beating behind home plate yesterday and will probably miss the opener.

Seattle has started off the month of August winners in 7 of their last 11 games. They're currently 60-54, 9 games behind the Angels in the AL West, and 5 games behind Boston in the wild card.

Offensively they're being led by Ichiro, who is second in the sport in hitting (.359), and Russell Branyan, who leads the team in homers (27), RBI (68), SLG (.533), and OPS (.888). Franklin Gutierrez has also had a good season. But besides that their offense isn't too scary.

The Mariners have mostly relied on solid pitching throughout the year, and have the best team ERA in the AL at 3.94. Luckily for the Yanks, they miss Seattle's' ace, Felix Hernandez, who pitched (and dominated) last night. And two other main contributors to that low ERA are either traded or on the DL. Jarrod Washbun was 8-6 with a 2.64 ERA with Seattle, but is now a Tiger. And Erik Bedard and his 2.82 ERA are on the DL.

Seattle has a solid bullpen, with Mark Lowe, Sean White, and Miguel Bastista getting most of the work. Former Red Sox David Aardsma is their closer and he's having a very good year, with 27 saves and a 2.04 ERA.

The Yankees won two of the three games at in the Bronx back in early July.

Pitching Matchups

Game 1: Tonight @ 10:10 p.m. | TV/Radio: YES, WCBS
LHP CC Sabathia (12-7, 3.76) vs. LHP Ian Snell (0-0, 6.14)

Game 2: Tomorrow @ 10:10 p.m. | TV/Radio: YES, WCBS
LHP Andy Pettitte (9-6, 4.14) vs. LHP Ryan Rowland-Smith (2-1, 3.86)

Game 3: Saturday @ 10:10 p.m. | TV/Radio: YES, WCBS
RHP Sergio Mitre (1-1, 7.04) vs. LHP Luke French (1-0, 6.97)

Game 4: Sunday @ 4:10 | TV/Radio: YES, WCBS
RHP Joba Chamberlain (8-2, 3.85) vs. LHP Doug Fister (0-0, 0.00)

(Gaudin and Mitre are the likely starters for the final two games)

Players to Watch

YANKEES: Robinson Cano - Cano is the hottest Yankee right now - hitting .404/.429/.660 in the month of August - and hopefully yesterday's walk-off shows he might be figuring out things with men on base.

For the season the Yankees second baseman is hitting.317/.351/.514 with 18 HR and 60 RBI. He leads all second baseball with the .317 average and he's third in OPS behind Chase Utley and Ben Zobrist. Although those two are about 80 points ahead of Robbie.

He's done very well against the Mariners throughout his career, hitting .319/.360/.478 with 2 homers and 19 RBI in 32 games. Most of the damage was done in the Bronx because his number drop to .259/.283/.379 in 16 games in Seattle.

He killed Seattle pitching in the first series this year in the Bronx, going 6-for-10 with a double, but did not drive in a run.

Cano vs. Snell: NR
Cano vs. Rowland-Smith: 2-for-6, 2 RBI, R
Cano vs. French: 1-for-2
Cano vs. Fister: NR

MARINERS: Ichiro Suzuki - Who else? This guy is not only the best pure hitter in the game today, but he may be one of the best ever. He's having another "Ichiro" year; .359/.391/.466 with 7 HR, 32 RBI, 27 stolen bases, and he's well on his way to another 200-hit season. Defensively, he's one of the best right fielders in the game, and he has that ridiculous arm.

In 73 games against the Yankees Ichiro is hitting .320/.368/.426 with 6 HR, 27 RBI, and 23 stolen bases.

He went 4-for-12 with 2 RBI and 4 stolen bases in the first three games against the Yanks.

Ichiro vs. Sabathia: .415/.429/.780 (17-for-41), 3 HR, 4 2B, 6 RBI
Ichiro vs. Pettitte: .364/.364/.394 (12-for-33) with 5 RBI.
Ichiro vs. Mitre: NR
Ichiro vs. Gaudin: .217/.280/.261 (5-for-23) with 2 RBI

Injury Report

YANKEES:
- Mariano Rivera, CL: Day-to-day with a sore shoulder - should be available in Seattle.
- Derek Jeter, SS: Day-to-day after being hit by a pitch on the right foot in yesterday's game.
- Alex Rodriguez, 3B: Day-to-day after being hit on the elbow by a pitch in yesterday's game.
- Chien-Ming Wang, SP: 15-day DL is done for the year after arthriscopic surgery on his shoulder. He will likely be out for 12 months.
- Xavier Nady, RF: Done for year, season-ending Tommy John surgery. 10-12 months to recover.
- Damaso Marte, RP: 60-day DL with a sore shoulder.
- Brett Gardner, CF: 15-day DL with a broken bone in his hand. He had his cast taken off and hopes to be back in a little more than a week from today.

MARINERS:
- Erik Bedard SP: 15-day DL with left shoulder inflammation.
- Endy Chávez LF/RF: 60-day DL with a torn right ACL - out for season.
- Carlos Silva SP: 60-day DL with a right shoulder impingement.
- César Jiménez RP: 60-day DL with left biceps tendinitis.
- Ryan Feierabend SP/RP: 60-day DL after having left elbow surgery - out for season