SEATTLE — The Yankees don’t have a chance to clinch a playoff spot until Wednesday night, in what they hope will be the first of two crucial decisions this month.

Tuesday night felt like a prelude to the party.

The Yankees faced a big challenge with right-hander Bryan Woo, but they gave it their all and knocked him out of the game in the fifth inning. They then beat the Mariners 11-2 in front of 31,668 spectators at T-Mobile Park.

Fueled by a strong night from the top players in their batting lineup – Gleyber Torres, Juan Soto and Aaron Judge combined to go 7-for-10 with three walks, six RBIs and seven runs scored – the Yankees (88-63) won their eighth victory in their last 11 games and reduced their magic number to one to secure a playoff spot.

With a win on Wednesday, they can become the first team in the American League to reach a playoff spot.

“We would definitely love to win the title, especially after last year’s season where we missed the postseason,” Judge said. “That’s what we want to do this season: get to the postseason and give ourselves a chance to go out and win a World Series. That’s going to be Step 1, but we have to get there first.”

With Tuesday night’s loss to the Orioles, the Yankees extended their lead at the top of the AL East to four games – their largest since June 6 (when it reached a season-high 4 ½) – with 11 games left to play.

The Yankees moved closer to their first goal of getting into the dance by putting together a surge of offense that cooled off the Mariners (77-74), who had won eight of 11 games before the series and were fighting for their playoff spots.

This also helped take the pressure off Luis Gil, who struggled with his control but managed five one-run innings before Marcus Stroman – in his first relief appearance of the season after being taken out of the rotation – threw the final three innings, allowing a solo home run and getting the save.

With one hit in the fourth inning, Soto (2-for-2, two walks) reached three different milestones: He hit his 40th home run of the season and the 200th of his career, and did so in the 30th and last current MLB park in which he had not hit a home run.

He said the 30th Park home run – which he had set as a goal in spring training – was the one he thought about most while rounding the bases.

“It’s a great feeling for me,” Soto said. “So many different stadiums, so many different dimensions. I want to check them all off. What a great way to go into free agency, hitting home runs in all 30 stadiums, and checking off my list.”

Torres had a strong night on both sides of the ball, going 3-for-4 with a double and making three sharp defensive plays at second base.

And Judge cleared the traffic in front of him, going 2-for-4 with a walk and four RBIs, giving him 136 runs on the season.

Jasson Dominguez also hit his first home run of the season, giving the Yankees a 7-1 lead in the fifth inning and knocking Woo out of the game. Austin Wells added a three-run double in the sixth inning to win the game.

Meanwhile, the Mariners – and Victor Robles in particular – played a big part in Gil avoiding early trouble.

With a 2-0 lead, Gil Robles hit his hand with his first pitch of the night and then managed two 3-1 walks to load the bases with one out.

He got Luke Raley to hit a pop-up for the second out, but then fell behind 3-0 against Justin Turner and clearly didn’t have a good feel for the strike zone when he went to the back of the mound to pick up the rosin bag.

Robles had a big lead in third place, but suddenly took off running when Gil threw the rosin bag back on the ground.

When Gil realized Robles was running quickly enough, he threw the ball home in time for Wells to fend off the ball and somehow end the inning without allowing a run.

“(A) 3-0, that was like a big break, a little gift for us,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Helpd get Luis off the ropes and he was able to settle in and do enough to give us a strong five.”

From then on, the Yankees continued to push forward, and Soto hit a home run against Woo in the fourth inning, making it 6-1 with a two-run shot.

When Soto hit 40 home runs, he and Aaron Judge became only the third pair of Yankees teammates to hit 40 home runs in the same season—the first since Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle in 1961. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig had previously done so in three different seasons.