. The slugger knew it was gone the moment he connected, and he took a little jump at the plate and pumped his arm before tossing his bat aside.The drive soared a projected 453 feet for Stanton's first walk-off homer with the Yankees - his previous one came on April 18, 2014, for the Marlins (also vs. Seattle). He was mobbed by teammates and doused as he crossed the plate, throwing his helmet into the air and smiling from ear to ear.New York is a season-high 27 games above .500 with the majors' best record at 49-22. The Yankees have won nine of 11 against Seattle (46-28) and will try for a three-game series sweep Thursday afternoon.The Mariners have lost three straight for the first time since April 17-19 against the World Series champion Astros.)
TICKETSTICKETSYankees look to power way to series win over Mariners 2h ago• 3 min read NEW YORK -- The last time Giancarlo Stanton stood in front of his locker at Yankee Stadium, he was in a testy mood with the line of questioning after a rough day at the plate.Two days later, Stanton was in a much better mood, especially when he discussed the poise the young hitters batting behind him are showing.It was on display Tuesday when the Yankees cruised to a 7-2 win over the Seattle Mariners on a night when rookies Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres hit their ninth and 14th homers, respectively.Now Stanton and his young teammates get a chance at winning another series Wednesday night when the Yankees host the Mariners in the middle game of a three-game set.The Yankees are 15-4 in their last 19 games after Stanton followed up a four-hit night in Washington by homering on the first pitch he saw. Then he watched as Andujar blasted a two-run homer and Torres hit a solo shot, giving the Yankees the chance to clinch their 16th series victory since April 19 on Wednesday."Seeing the guys and playing with them, I'm not surprised by what they can do," Stanton said. "But the way they've been able to do it and keep doing it is cool to see." Andujar is on the verge of becoming the seventh Yankee to hit double figures in home runs. His homer snapped a 0-for-14 skid and was his 35th extra-base hit, the third-most by a Yankee in his first 65 games behind Bob Meusel (41) and Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio (47).Torres has four homers in his last 10 games and his latest home run occurred in his 50th game, matching Aaron Judge for the third-fastest in team history. Only Gary Sanchez (19) and Kevin Maas (15) did it faster and Torres leads all first-year players with 14 homers and 35 RBIs."They're very well rounded and they keep proving it," Stanton said.While the Yankees were marveling at more production from their youth, the Mariners are hoping to avoid losing three straight games for the first time since April 17-19 against the Houston Astros. The Mariners (46-27) are on their first losing streak since May 29-30 and are 37-19 since they last dropped three in a row.The Mariners matched a season low by mustering two hits and went hitless in 20 straight at-bats at one point."The key on the road, is you have to play really good defense and you have to hit," Seattle manager Scott Servais said before the game. "It's hard to win the 1-0 game, 2-1 game. We've won a couple of them but it's not easy. It's not a formula you want to subscribe to often." Nelson Cruz homered and has seven in his last 10 games and eight in his last 13 contests."We're going to play our game," Cruz said. "Things didn't turn out the way we wanted it to. We'll come back positive tomorrow and try to make things better." After getting a rough outing from Marco Gonzales Tuesday, the Mariners will hope to rebound with Felix Hernandez on the mound.Hernandez (6-6, 5.44 ERA) will start Wednesday after losing his last two starts. He allowed six runs (five earned) in three innings of a 7-3 loss at Tampa Bay on June 9 but took a tough 2-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox after allowing two hits on eight hits in seven innings on Thursday.Hernandez has pitched at least five innings and allowed three runs or less in nine of 15 starts this season.Hernandez is 10-7 with a 3.04 ERA in 21 career starts, including four complete games against the Yankees. In New York, he is 7-2 with a 2.00 ERA in 11 starts, including a 6-1 record with a 1.41 ERA in nine starts at the current Yankee Stadium.Since Aug. 4, 2012, he is 3-0 with a 1.36 ERA in five starts at Yankee Stadium.Jonathan Loaisiga will make his second start in place of Masahiro Tanaka (hamstring). He picked up the win in his major league debut Friday against the Tampa Bay Rays when he allowed three hits in five innings of a 5-0 win.Loaisiga was the 11th pitcher (eighth starter) in Yankees history to go at least five innings in his major league debut and only the second since 1943. The other was Sam Militello in 1992.Loaisiga was the first native of Nicaragua to appear for the Yankees and the 15th Nicaraguan to appear in the major leagues.The Yankees are 8-2 in the last 10 meetings with the Mariners.
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