Seattle (35-35) at NY Yankees (39-33)
When: Tuesday, June 20th 2023
Where: Yankee Stadium,
Bronx, NY
Time: 7:05 ET | TV: mlb.tv
Opening Odds: New York -140/7.5
The struggling New York Yankees will look bounce back from a rough weekend in Boston when they open a three-game series Tuesday night against the Seattle Mariners. New York currently owns the final wild card spot in the American League, but a group of teams are right behind them including Seattle. The Yankees have dropped four straight and are just 4-8 since Aaron Judge kicked a concrete curb beneath the right-field fence at Dodger Stadium on June 3 while running down a fly ball.
The supporting cast has failed to pick up the slack offensively, as New York has scored more than three runs in just four of their last 12 games. Anthony Rizzo is 4-for-48 (.083) this month after sitting out three games with a neck strain, while Giancarlo Stanton is just 5-for-41 (.122) with 15 strikeouts since returning from a hamstring injury June 2.
The Mariners have been hovering around the .500 mark for most of the season and won two of three against the Chicago White Sox over the weekend. However, the offense struck out an alarming 39 times in that series including 16 alone against Lance Lynn on Sunday. Despite that, Seattle still earned a 5-1 victory thanks to a bases-clearing triple in the eighth inning by Jarred Kelenic.
These teams met less than a month ago in Seattle with the Yankees taking two of three. New York won the first two games by a combined 20-6 score before the Mariners earned a 1-0 victory in the finale. George Kirby was on the mound for Seattle in that one and he’ll take the hill in tonight’s opener opposite Yankees’ ace Gerrit Cole.
Pitchers: Mariners – George Kirby (6-5, 3.24) | Yankees – Gerrit Cole (7-1, 2.75)
Kirby, the Rye, N.Y. native, will be making his first career start against the Yankees in the Bronx. On May 31, Kirby allowed three hits over eight scoreless innings against New York but was left with a no-decision. On Tuesday, he allowed an unearned run and three hits while getting a career-high 10 strikeouts in a 9-3 home win over the Miami Marlins.
Cole has been fantastic all season, allowing two runs or less in 12 of his 15 starts. He was left with a no-decision last Wednesday against the New York Mets when he allowed one run on four hits in six innings. Cole is 6-3 with a 2.25 ERA in 11 career starts against the Mariners.
The edge goes to Cole in this one with the way Seattle has been striking out. The Mariners have also played poorly on the road recently, going 2-7 in their last nine. Seattle is also just 1-6 in their last seven road games against teams with a winning record and 4-12 in their last 16 trips to Yankee Stadium. I’ll back New York at home tonight.
Check out who Bobby Babowski has on his Free MLB Picks page for today.
Pick: Yankees -130
