Series Preview: Seattle Mariners vs. New York Yankees (6/19-6/21)

After splitting a doubleheader with the Nationals Monday, the Yankees return to the Bronx for three days to take on the Seattle Mariners. This will be the first time these two teams face off this year. The Mariners, who just split a four-game series with the Red Sox, have been very hot lately, going 22-7 since May 18th, and currently trail the Astros by 2 games in the AL West. The Yankees though, are an MLB best 26-11 at home this year, and haven’t lost a series there since April 5th-8th, when they took only one out of four from the Orioles.

Game One: Tuesday, June 19th at 7:05 on YES

Domingo German (1-4, 5.23 ERA) vs Marco Gonzales (7-3, 3.42 ERA)

Domingo German will be on the hill game one for the Yankees making his eighth career start. He will try to build off his last start, where he allowed just three runs over six innings, and struck out 10 against the Rays. Considering Jonathan Holder, David Robertson, Chad Green, Chasen Shreve, Adam Warren, Dellin Betances, and Aroldis Chapman all pitched in the double header, the Yankees will be looking for some depth from German. Possible bad news for German is the Mariners have six right handed hitters in their lineup, which he struggles against. Righties OPS this year against him is .772 while lefties have an OPS of just .657.

Lefty Marco Gonzales will take the bump for the Mariners. He has been a major reason for their hot streak. Over his last six starts he is 4-0 with a 1.41 ERA, and hitters are only batting .204 against him. In his last start he allowed three runs and seven hits in just five innings. None of the Yankees have seen much of Gonzales. Giancarlo Stanton has the most career at-bats against him going 1-2.

Game Two: Wednesday, June 20th at 7:05 on YES

Jonathan Loaisiga (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs Felix Hernandez (6-6, 5.44 ERA)

Jonathan “Lasagna” Loaisiga will be making his second career start for the Yankees in game two. The 23 year old was very impressive during his first start, which came last Friday against the Rays. He pitched five shutout innings and tallied six strikeouts. He showed a fastball that averaged 96.3 mph, a swing-and-miss curveball, and a nasty changeup. We’ll see if Loaisiga can do it again, this time against a possible playoff team.

Photo Credit: Bill Kostroun/New York Post

Felix Hernandez will be pitching game two for the Mariners. This season has not been his best. He is on pace to have the highest ERA of his career, along with career worsts in many other catagories. King Felix has been very good against the Yankees in his career, pitching to a 3.04 ERA in 21 career starts against the Bombers. Besides Brett Gardner who probably won’t be playing, no Yankees have a lot of at-bats against Hernandez. 

Game Three: Thursday, June 21st at 1:05 on YES

Luis Severino (10-2, 2.09 ERA) vs James Paxton (6-1, 3.44 ERA)

Yankees’ ace Luis Severino will be on the mound for the series finale on Thursday. Severino has been absolutely dominant this year. He is tied for the AL lead with 10 wins, is second in ERA, and is fifth with 118 strikeouts. Last start Severino was magnificent, pitching eight shutout innings with nine strikeouts, and only three hits. Nelson Cruz is 2-6 against Severino in his career.

James Paxton, the hard throwing lefty, will be pitching for Seattle Thursday. This is Paxton’s sixth year in the MLB, and he has been very good so far, with a 3.31 ERA in his first 89 starts. This year he is just behind Severino with 115 strikeouts, and is ninth in WHIP. He will be looking to rebound from his last start, which was possibly his worst of the year. In just 2.1 innings he allowed six hits and five runs against the Red Sox. The only Yankee to have an at-bat against Paxton is Neil Walker, who is 0-2.

What to watch for:

Giancarlo Stanton: During Stanton’s MVP season last year he had a couple streaks in the middle of the summer, where pitchers couldn’t get him out, or keep him in the yard. Yankees fans have been waiting for one of those streaks, and one could be well on its way. Over his last three games Stanton is 6-12, and even though he doesn’t have many at-bats against them, he does have good numbers off Marco Gonzales and Felix Hernandez, who are pitching the first two games of the series.

Clint Frazier: Even though Frazier has been with the Yankees from time to time this year, he hasn’t gotten a chance to play a whole series, which he might be able to now. With Brett Gardner still nursing an inflamed right knee, Frazier may get a chance to play left field a few days in a row. So far in AAA this year Frazier is hitting .302 with 12 doubles and eight home runs.

Juan Nicasio: Over the offseason, Nicasio was one of the Mariners biggest acquisitions. His first 30 games were disappointing however, with him pitching to a 5.34 ERA. On June 6th he went on the DL with a right knee injury, and was just activated for the series against the Yankees. We will see if he can get back to form and help an already potent Mariners bullpen.

Article by: Chase Seibold

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