Mariners' mistake opens door for Yankees' rout, incredible Juan Soto HR milestone

For a moment there, Tuesday night appeared like it could turn into a back-and-forth affair. The New York Yankees got off to a fast 2-0 lead on an Aaron Judge two-run double, but in the bottom half of the first inning Luis Gil was struggling with his control and the Seattle Mariners were threatening.

But they let the Yankees off the hook. With the bases loaded and two outs, Justin Turner was at the plate. He has killed the Yankees the last few years, and it wasn't out of the realm of possibility he'd do it on a different team in 2024. Gil fell behind the veteran slugger 3-0 and the Mariners were on the verge of responding with at least one run.

But outfielder Victor Robles got far too aggressive with his baserunning at third and attempted to steal home. He thought Gil was sleeping, but the pitcher tossed the ball to catcher Austin Wells, who was perfectly positioned to tag Robles out. Inning over.

What was that?! The Mariners, who are fighting for their playoff lives, can't afford to make mistakes of such magnitude, but they're now three games back of a Wild Card spot after Tuesday's 11-2 loss.

That was the moment Seattle gave it away. The Yankees scored two more runs in the top of the second with another two RBI from Judge, and never looked back.

Mariners' mistake opens door for Yankees' rout, incredible Juan Soto HR milestone

There were a lot of notable occurrences in this one. Gleyber Torres notched three hits. Austin Wells hit a bases-clearing double to drive in three runs. Jasson Dominguez homered for the first time in the bigs in 2024. Oswaldo Cabrera, who got the start at shortstop over Anthony Volpe, went 2-for-5 with an RBI.

But Juan Soto was the man of the night. He clocked his 40th homer of the season (200th of his career) and accomplished an important goal of his: he's gone yard in all 30 MLB stadiums at just 25 years old. His blast off Bryan Woo in the fourth inning put the Yankees up 6-1.

The Yankees have a penchant for going wild in Seattle, no matter the circumstances. Woo, who hadn't allowed more than four runs in a start all season and held a 2.38 ERA across his 19 outings, got rocked for seven. The Yankees recorded 12 hits, four walks and went 5-for-12 with RISP.

No errors in this one, either! Yay!

And how about the pitching?! Gil settled down after a rowdy first couple of innings. He lasted five frames, allowing just one earned run on four hits and three walks while striking out five. Tim Mayza tossed a scoreless frame in the sixth, and then it was Marcus Stroman who finished the job. The veteran right-hander, who was moved to the bullpen last week, earned the save after pitching three innings of one-run ball. He allowed one run on five hits while striking out three. That's a creative and productive way to preserve the bullpen, isn't it?

The Yankees now have a four-game lead over the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East, which is their largest cushion since early June when they were up 4.5. The O's got crushed by Blake Snell and the Giants, 10-0, and they still have to face Logan Webb before that three-game set ends. Baltimore is spiraling as they've lost eight of their last 11 as New York quietly handles their business.

The No. 1 seed is in sight. The Yanks just need to stay the course. And a win on Wednesday will clinch them a playoff berth.