Mariners-Yankees Series Preview

The Yankees enter a three-game set at home vs. Seattle as one of baseball's best teams.  The Mariners enter the series hovering around .500 and have played for the most part inconsistent ball all year.  Here is a series preview.

Some have made the argument that the Yankees are the most surprising team in baseball considering all of the injuries.  With baseball castoffs Vernon Wells, Travis Hafner, Lyle Overbay and others, the Yanks have hung in.  Seattle, meantime, cannot seem to get consistent hitting and consecutive starts from its 3-5 starters.  The M's have won three of four and six of nine, however.

Key player:  Vernon Wells.  Wells has 3 home runs, 6 RBI and 9 hits in the last six games.  The guy is on fire and has his average up to .293.  How can Joe Girardi even think about sitting him when Curtis Granderson returns?

Pitching match-ups:  Tuesday:  Felix Hernandez (5-2, 1.53 ERA) vs. CC Sabathia (4-3, 3.23 ERA).  Wednesday:  Hisashi Iwakuma (4-1, 1.74 ERA) vs. Phil Hughes (2-2, 4.43 ERA).  Thursday:  Aaron Harang (1-4, 7.30 ERA) vs. Andy Pettitte (4-2, 3.83 ERA).

Prediction:  Mariners take two of three.  The Yankees don't hit King Felix well.  Who does?  Hernandez should outduel CC in Game One.  The Mariners may catch Hughes or Pettitte on a bad night.  The same can be said for the Yanks against Iwakuma, though.  Baseball is so unpredictable.  But this is one of those quirky series where the Yanks come off a recent sweep in Kansas City, games in Cleveland, lots of travel and face good pitching at home so a tired lineup could stop hitting for a short time, so Seattle winning two is very possible.

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.