Getty Gary Sanchez of the New York Yankees, who makes his Spring Training Debut tonight against the Baltimore Orioles, doubles in the ALDS.
Gary Sanchez will get a routine day off and Jonathan Loaisiga will make his first start since April 9 when the New York Yankees host the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night.
Sanchez will not be in the starting lineup tonight following a string of nine consecutive starts. The star catcher hit .273/.351/.758 with five home runs and 10 RBI in those games. Austin Romine will start behind the dish and hit eighth.
Yankees Roster & Starting Lineup vs. Mariners
1. DJ LeMahieu 2B
2. Luke Voit 1B
3. Clint Frazier RF
4. Gleyber Torres SS
5. Miguel Andujar DH
6. Gio Urshela 3B
7. Cameron Maybin LF
8. Austin Romine C
9. Mike Tauchman CF
SP Jonathan Loaisiga
Bench: Gary Sanchez, Brett Gardner, Thairo Estrada
Bullpen: Aroldis Chapman, Zack Britton, Adam Ottavino, Jonathan Holder, Luis Cessa, Tommy Kahnle, Joe Harvey, Jake Barrett
The Mariners had a 4-2 lead after eight innings last night but they couldn’t get the final three outs and lost 5-4 to the Yankees after Anthony Swarzak allowed a game-tying two-run home run to Gio Urshela with one out in the ninth, before Roenis Elias surrendered a two-out single to DJ LeMahieu, who has been on fire as of late, with a .471 batting average (16-for-34) during a nine-game hitting streak.
After a 13-2 start to the season, the Mariners are just 6-17 since April 11, with 12 of those losses coming by three runs or fewer while the Yankees are 15-5 since April 16, the best record in the American League.
Gary Sanchez, Miguel Andujar and Clint Frazier missed some of those games and the Yankees are still without Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Hicks, Greg Bird, Didi Gregorius, Troy Tulowitzki, Jacoby Ellsbury, reliever Dellin Betances and starters Luis Severino and James Paxton.
Gio. Dude.
Yusei Kikuchi (1-1, 3.98 ERA, 1.16 WHIP) will make his ninth career start. The Japanese left-hander is coming off his best start in the majors, allowing one earned run on three hits with 10 strikeouts and one walk over seven innings to get a no-decision in a 2-1 loss against the Indians last Friday.
Kikuchi was a three-time All-Star in the Pacific League in Japan and he went 69-45 with a 2.69 ERA in 148 games (144 starts) with Seibu, including 42-17 with a 2.51 ERA in the last three seasons. He’s averaging 7.7 strikeouts per nine innings (K/9) and 1.9 walks per nine innings (BB/9), allowing just 1.1 home runs per nine innings (HR/9) and opponents are hitting .245 against him.
Roster Move: Prior to tonight’s game, the Yankees recalled RHP Jonathan Loaisiga (#43) from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Jonathan Loaisiga (1-0, 2.70 ERA, 1.30 WHIP) is replacing James Paxton in the starting rotation while he recovers from left knee inflammation and his last start was on April 9 when he allowed two earned runs on four hits (one home run) with five strikeouts and two walks over three innings to get a no-decision in a 6-3 loss against the Astros.
Loaisiga won his last appearance on April 24 after throwing three scoreless innings of relief in a 6-5 victory against the Angels. He faced the Mariners on June 20, opposing Felix Hernandez and he gave up three earned runs on six hits in 3 2/3 innings to get a no-decision in a 7-5 win.
The right-hander has pitched just 10 innings this season but he’s averaging 9.0 strikeouts per nine innings (K/9), surrendering just 0.9 home runs per nine innings (HR/9) and opponents are hitting .206 against him.
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