Forecasting The Rest Of Yankees-Mariners

The Yankees took game one of a four-game set in Seattle 6-1 behind a six-run third inning that saw back-to-back home runs from Robinson Cano and Mark Teixeira and a solid performance from Phil Hughes, who seems to give up less home runs on the road for some reason.  Hughes is now 4-0 with a 0.82 ERA all-time at Safeco Field.  Let's have a look at the rest of the series.  

New York has won four straight games and has a lot of momentum after winning the first game.  Seattle is not a good team at all and can rely only so much on ace Felix Hernandez, who, on a better team, might be a 20-game winner every year.

Player to watch:  Robinson Cano.  Cano should be benefiting more from the return of Mark Teixeira as he is getting more fastballs to hit.  The Yanks need Cano.

Pitching match-ups:  Friday:  Hiroki Kuroda (6-4, 2.59 ERA) vs. Jeremy Bonderman (0-1, 13.50 ERA).  Saturday:  Andy Pettitte (4-3, 4.17 ERA) vs. Joe Saunders (4-5, 5.20 ERA).  Sunday:  David Phelps (4-3, 4.15 ERA) vs. Felix Hernandez (7-4, 2.58 ERA).

Prediction:  Yankees win two of three remaining games to take three of four in the series.  Beating Felix Hernandez is one of the hardest things to do in baseball.  You never know, but King Felix is money just about every time out.

By:  Mike Lindsley, "Mid-Day with Mike," 1-4, Yankees pre/post game host on 104.5 The Team ESPN Radio.  Follow him on Twitter @MikeLSports.