Yankees hit the road to take on Mariners, Athletics

When & Where To Watch

Tonight at Mariners: Coverage on YES & the YES App begins at 9:00 pm with the Pregame Show

Tomorrow at Mariners: YES & the YES App will have the Postgame Show following game coverage on Prime, which starts at 9:00 pm

Thursday at Mariners: Coverage on YES & the YES App begins at 3:00 pm with Yankees Batting Practice Today

Friday at Athletics: Coverage on YES & the YES App begins at 9:30 pm with the Pregame Show

Saturday at Athletics: Coverage on YES & the YES App begins at 8:00 pm with Yankees Batting Practice Today

Sunday at Athletics: Coverage on YES & the YES App begins at 3:00 pm with Yankees Batting Practice Today

Pinstriped Pulse

With 12 regular season games remaining, the 87-63 Yankees own the best record in the American League. They hold a three-game lead atop the AL East over the Orioles, who will visit the Bronx for three games next week, and the Yanks’ magic number for clinching a spot in the postseason is three. Aaron Judge has homered twice in the last three games, including his go-ahead grand slam Friday against Boston, and is up to an MLB-high 53 home runs on the season. Also leading the Majors with 132 RBI, Judge is second to Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr. in the other AL triple crown category, trailing him in batting average .332 to .321. The Yankees’ regular clean-up hitter behind Judge lately, Austin Wells, is batting .290 with six homers and 28 RBI in 141 plate appearances batting fourth this season as he makes his case for the AL Rookie of the Year award. Settling in as the Yanks’ leadoff hitter, Gleyber Torres is batting .323 since Aug. 21, logging at least one hit in 22 of 24 games during that span. Relief pitcher Luke Weaver has a 1.26 ERA in 14 1/3 IP over his last 13 appearances, including two successful save conversions.

How ‘Bout That

Thursday’s 2-1 win over Boston was a rare kind of victory for the Yankees. Gleyber Torres homered as the team’s first batter of the game at the Stadium, and they scored their second run on the game’s final batter when Juan Soto delivered a walk-off RBI single in the 10th inning to score pinch-runner Jon Berti, who was the automatic runner with the game in extras. Dating all the way back to 1974, this is the only time in which the Yankees won a game while doing all of their scoring on both their first and final batters.

Know The Foes

The 77-73 Mariners are just two games behind Minnesota for the third AL Wild Card spot, although Detroit is just 1.5 games back of the Twins and Boston is on the fringe of the Wild Card picture, four games back. Seattle is also within four games of first-place Houston in the AL West with three head-to-head meetings in Houston left between the clubs. Julio Rodriguez is batting .333 with five home runs over his last 17 games. This series will be the Yankees’ first look at former division rival Randy Arozarena since Tampa Bay traded him to Seattle; Arozarena hit .364 versus the Yanks in his final nine games against them as a member of the Rays, and entering Tuesday, six of his last 12 hits have gone for extra bases. A .235 hitter in 475 MLB games with Washington including the postseason before being acquired by Seattle earlier this year, Victor Robles is batting .333 over 227 plate appearances with the Mariners. Closer Andrés Muñoz has an ERA of just 2.10 for the season, but he has been scored upon in four of his last 10 appearances despite opponents hitting only .182 against him in that stretch.

Probable Starters

Luis Gil draws the start tonight opposite Seattle’s Bryan Woo. Over his first two starts since coming off the injured list, Gil has tossed 11 innings of one-run ball with 12 strikeouts. Former Mariner Nestor Cortes will start tomorrow against Bryce Miller. Cortes has thrown 9 1/3 innings of one-run ball over his last two appearances, a relief effort at the Cubs and a start versus Boston. Clarke Schmidt and Logan Gilbert are lined up for Thursday’s final. Schmidt has given up just two runs in 10 1/3 innings through a couple of starts since he made his own return from the IL.

Bronx Buds

A new episode of YES’ first-ever animated series is coming your way this Saturday morning! Join Riv, Bash, and Oscar on the latest installments of their baseball adventure across New York City in HexClad presents Bronx Buds, powered by Bical Auto Mallwhich you can watch exclusively on the YES App.

We Got Nets

A new season of Brooklyn Nets basketball is on the horizon. New head coach Jordi Fernández leads a roster that features young, hungry talent like explosive scorer Cam Thomas and one of the NBA’s top two-way centers, Nic Claxton. A decorated broadcast team featuring Hall of Famer Vince Carter will bring you the action, and YES’ Nets coverage is going to tip off on Brooklyn Nets Media Day at 11:00 am Monday, Sept. 30. YES’ first preseason action comes your way Oct. 14 when the Nets host the Wizards.