New York @ Seattle preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 21, 2018 ) Seattle 3, NY Yankees 4

The New York Yankees own the second-best record in baseball and are leading the American League wild-card race, but they still believe they are capable of playing better. The Seattle Mariners, who host the Yankees in the opener of a three-game series beginning on Friday, need a spark to get back into the wild-card race and could stand for New York to take a few more days getting its act together.

The Yankees (87-53) sit 9 1/2 games behind Boston in the AL East and are 3 1/2 games up on Oakland for the first AL wild-card but are losers of five of their last eight and began their west coast trip with a series loss in Oakland this week. "I want to get rolling, no question about it," New York manager Aaron Boone told reporters. "I think we're doing some things well, but we're not certainly rolling like we're capable of. We're starting to get some guys back, which is really important, but we've got to play better if we want to get to where we want to go." The Mariners (78-62) need an extended stretch of strong play to make it a three-team race for the AL wild-card and enter the weekend 5 1/2 games behind the Athletics. Seattle will try to take advantage of slumping New York behind ace James Paxton while dealing with Yankees righty Masahiro Tanaka.

TV: 10:10 p.m. ET, YES (New York), ROOT Northwest (Seattle)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Yankees RH Masahiro Tanaka (10-5, 3.83 ERA) vs. Mariners LH James Paxton (11-5, 3.74)

Tanaka snapped a five-start winless stretch by holding Detroit to one run and seven hits over seven innings on Saturday. The 29-year-old has permitted only one home run in his last four outings after surrendering 22 in his first 19 turns. Tanaka is seeing Seattle for the first time in 2018 and is 6-0 with a 2.34 ERA in seven career starts against the Mariners.

Paxton came off the disabled list on Saturday and needed five innings to rack up 10 strikeouts and earn a win over Oakland. The Canada native missed over two weeks after getting hit on the forearm by a comebacker and was a little rusty with his control while issuing four walks against the Athletics. Paxton struck out nine in five innings at New York on June 21 but suffered the loss while allowing four runs on seven hits and three walks.

WALK-OFFS

1. The Yankees are expected to activate SS Didi Gregorius from the 10-day DL on Friday.

2. Seattle OF Denard Span went 3-for-3 on Wednesday, matching his hit total from the previous six games.

3. New York OF prospect Clint Frazier (post-concussion syndrome) is unlikely to play again this season.

PREDICTION: Mariners 4, Yankees 3