SEATTLE – Mariners’ promising right-hander Bryan Woo had the advantage in the first two meetings with the Yankees of his young career.
The Yankees, and especially Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, had a lot to do with the 24-year-old on Tuesday evening.
Judge scored four runs in the first two innings, raising his RBI total to 136 (an MLB lead), and Soto added a double, a walk and a two-run homer in his first three appearances against Woo. In front of 31,668 fans at T-Mobile Park, the Yankees defeated the Mariners, who are still hoping to make the playoffs, 11-2, to reduce their magic number for a playoff spot to one.
The 12-hit streak, which included three hits by Gleyber Torres, a home run by Jasson Dominguez and a three-run double by AL Rookie of the Year candidate Austin Wells, helped the Yankees (88-63) extend their lead in the American League East to four games over the Orioles, who were beaten at home by the Giants.
A Yankees win on Wednesday night officially qualifies them for October baseball.
“We’re definitely excited, especially after last year’s season where we missed the postseason,” said Judge, whose two-run double in the first inning against Woo made it 2-0 and whose two-run single in the second inning made it 4-0. “That’s what we started the season for, to get to the postseason and give ourselves a chance to go out and win a World Series. That’ll be the first step. But we have to get there first.”
Soto’s two-run homer, a two-run blast to opposite field in the fourth inning, made the game 6-1 while also achieving three milestones for the 25-year-old right fielder: It gave Soto his first 40-home-run season, his 200th home run and allowed him to check a career goal off his list – a home run in every ballpark. The latter, Soto said afterward, was the most significant of the three goals.
“It’s a great feeling for me,” said Soto, who had already mentioned it as a goal in the spring. “So many stadiums, so many different dimensions. I wanted to check them all off. What a way to start free agency, with home runs in all 30 stadiums.”
Dominguez’s home run in the fifth inning put the team up 7-1 and Wells increased the lead to 10-1 with his double in the sixth inning.
The win allowed Marcus Stroman, who was moved to the bullpen last week, to debut as a reliever in 2024. The right-hander allowed two hits in the scoreless seventh inning and a solo home run by Luke Raley in the eighth to make it 10-2. Stroman finished the ninth inning with his second career save (the other came in 2014).
Oswaldo Cabrera’s RBI single in the ninth inning against Leo Rivas, a fielder who throws pitches in the mid-40 mph range, brought the game to 11-2.
Woo entered the game 8-2 with a 2.38 ERA this season and had not allowed a run in 11 1/3 career innings against the Yankees (including six scoreless in a 6-3 win at the Stadium on May 21). But the Yankees needed all of nine pitches to take a 2-0 lead.
Although Luis Gil struggled throughout, mostly due to command issues, he still made it through five innings, allowing one run and four hits and improving his record to 14-6, 3.14 without damaging his hopes of a spot in the Yankees’ postseason rotation.
A strange 24-pitch stretch of the first inning began with Gil hitting leadoff man Victor Robles in the right hand with his first pitch of the night and ended with Robles, who left the game in the third inning with a bruised right hand, causing the last out of the inning at the plate with an ill-advised attempt to steal home base.
Judge then made the night even easier for the pitcher by giving them a four-run lead with his single.
“He really set the tone for us tonight with his two important first at-bats,” Aaron Boone said of Judge.
At this time last season, the Yankees under Boone were struggling with an 82-80 record and fourth place in the East. By late Tuesday night, they were virtually assured of a playoff spot, pulling away in their quest for the East crown and heading toward what seemed like a photo finish with the Guardians for the AL’s best record.
“We’re better,” Boone said. “Last year we weren’t a great team, and this team has a chance to do something special… We haven’t accomplished anything yet, but so far we’ve put ourselves in a position where we can do that.”
