Seattle Mariners Pitching Battles For Crucial Series Against New York Yankees Unveiled

The Seattle Mariners will close out their nine-game homestead with an important series against the New York Yankees.

Seattle Mariners starter Bryan Woo throws during a game against the San Diego Padres on Wednesday at T-Mobile Park. / Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images

SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners will enter Tuesday on the final leg of a nine-game homestead. The Mariners entered their off day on Monday 4.5 games out of first place in the American League West and 2.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot.

The Mariners have 12 games left in the season. And win or lose, every game from this point forward, Seattle is playing for its season.

The Mariners will play the New York Yankees in a three-game series beginning at 6:40 p.m. PT on Tuesday. The starting rotation will already have a tough outing against New York's Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, but the Yankees will also have a solid stretch of starters on the docket.

Sept. 17 (Tuesday) — Bryan Woo (Seattle) vs. Luis Gil (New York)

Woo is coming off a start on Sept. 11 where he nearly had the second perfect game in Mariners history. He went 6.2 innings deep and was 2.2 innings away from accomplishing perfection. Woo has been arguably the best Seattle hurler during the second half of the season and has gotten through some impressive batters in Fernando Tatis Jr., Luis Arraez, Brent Rooker and Shohei Ohtani just to name a few. He'll hope to keep that trend going against the elite Yankees lineup.

Bryan Woo's 3rd and 4th Ks thru 4. pic.twitter.com/PvNiz29ZgL

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 12, 2024

Gil has been one of New York's best starting pitchers this season (3.18 ERA and 156 strikeouts in 26 starts). He was on the injured list from Aug. 21-Sept. 4 and has struggled to maintain consistency before and after his injury. He's gone through six innings just once in his last seven starts but has also struck out at least five batters in both of his last outings since returning from injury.

Sept. 18 (Wednesday) — Bryce Miller (Seattle) vs. Nestor Cortes (New York)

Cortes (3.90 ERA, 156 strikeouts in 30 starts) hasn't had a quality start in his three outings in September, but tied a season-high with nine strikeouts while allowing just one earned run off three hits in five innings on Sept. 12 against the Boston Red Sox.

Miller has three quality starts in his last four outings. He's allowed a combined 10 hits and two earned runs to go with 21 strikeouts during those three quality starts.

Bryce Miller, Wicked 85mph Splitter. 🤢 pic.twitter.com/tZEIH1nzbB

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 13, 2024

Sept. 19 (Thursday) — Logan Gilbert (Seattle) vs. Clarke Schmidt (New York)

Gilbert will get the start after the Mariners re-shuffled their rotation following the injury to Luis Castillo and Emerson Hancock's call-up start on Sept. 13. Gilbert is coming off an appearance where he allowed four earned runs off two homers. He also struck out six batters. He fanned 10 hitters in eight innings in his start before that.

Logan Gilbert, 98mph Paint. 🖌️🎨 pic.twitter.com/D7WBVaAosW

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 15, 2024

Schmidt will make just his third start since his return from the 60-day injured list. He's allowed two earned runs off nine hits with a combined seven strikeouts in 10.1 total innings pitched.

A series win for Seattle would be the best-case scenario with road trips against the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros coming up soon after.

And the current Mariners starting rotation will need to pitch at their absolute best to take at least two-of-three from the AL East-leading Yankees.

Related Stories on Seattle Mariners

MARINERS STAFF ACCOMPLISHES IMPRESSIVE FEAT FOR FIRST TIME IN OVER 10 YEARS: Seattle Mariners starter George Kirby and relievers Trent Thornton and Eduard Bazardo accomplished an incredible feat in a 7-0 win against the Texas Rangers on Sunday. CLICK HERE

CHARGOIS TALKS ABOUT CURRENT STINT WITH SEATTLE: Ninth-year Seattle Mariners reliever JT Chargois had an impressive outing on Friday against the Texas Rangers and took some time Saturday to talk about his most recent appearance and his second stint in the Pacific Northwest. CLICK HERE

RALEIGH MAKES PERSONAL, MARINERS HISTORY: Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh has been no stranger to the record books this season and that trend continued during Saturday's 5-4 win against the Texas Rangers. CLICK HERE

Follow Seattle Mariners on SI on social media

Continue to follow our Inside the Mariners coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook and by following Teren Kowatsch and Brady Farkas on "X" @Teren_Kowatsch and @wdevradiobrady