A pair of American League teams on the right side of the playoff cut line open up a series on the diamond in the Pacific Northwest. The New York Yankees are on the road as they play the first game of a three-game series against the Seattle Mariners Monday night. New York finished a three-game series on the road against St. Louis hoping to avoid a sweep Sunday afternoon. They were beaten 1-0 by the Cardinals in the middle game of the set Saturday night. Seattle split a doubleheader with the Angels Saturday, winning the opener 2-1 and losing the nightcap by a 7-1 count. They close the four-game set at home Sunday. The Mariners took two of three meetings in the Big Apple in the first series between the teams this season August 1-3.
New York suffered their fourth straight loss as they were unable to generate any offense in Saturday’s loss to St. Louis. The Yankees entered Sunday holding a 10.5-game lead on the Blue Jays for the top spot in the AL East and were half a game up on the Astros for home field advantage in the AL playoffs. On Saturday, New York’s bats were held in check as they finished with just two singles: one by Aaron Judge and one by Kyle Higashioka, while going zero for two with runners in scoring position. Domingo German (1-2) was the tough luck loser as he allowed one run on four hits with no walks and three strikeouts over five innings before turning things over to the bullpen.
Jameson Taillon is on the mound for the Bronx Bombers as he makes his 22nd start of the season in this contest. He comes in 10-2 with a 3.96 ERA, a 1.161 WHIP, 21 walks and 98 strikeouts over 113.2 innings of w ork. Taillon didn’t factor in the decision in his last start, which came Tuesday at home against the Mariners. He threw 4.2 innings, allowing six runs (five earned) on two hits with four walks and six strikeouts in a game the Yankees eventually dropped by an 8-6 score. In his last three starts, Taillon has no record with a 4.72 ERA, a 1.43 WHIP, nine walks and 16 strikeouts over 13.1 innings of work. Taillon makes his fourth career start against the Mariners in this one. He comes in 2-0 with a 3.57 ERA, a 0.962 WHIP, five walks and 21 strikeouts over 17.2 innings of work in those contests. Taillon is 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA, a 0.846 WHIP, one walk and 15 strikeouts over 13 innings in two career starts at T-Mobile Park.