New York Yankees vs Seattle Mariners match

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The Yankees finished off Oakland 6-2 on Wednesday to put the finishing touch on a three game road sweep and a five game upswing. Overall, New York has won seven of ten as they look to solidify their grip on first in the American League East while holding both Tampa and Boston at bay. Even though they look as strong as ever, the Red Sox and Rays have shown the ability to rip off wins so no lead is comfortable right now. With that said, the Yanks will be tough to beat if AJ Burnette and the rotation perform as they did against Oakland, allowing just four runs. Although the A’s are not considered a potent offensive team, Seattle isn’t either and they hit New York pitching hard just a week ago and Andy Pettitte has also been hit hard by Seattle in his career with a 10-11 record and a rather high 4.51 ERA. He has been hot overall as a winner in five of his last six starts. including an 11-3 victory over Toronto in which he gave up three runs over six innings. A 7-3 loss to Kansas City yesterday sent Seattle to their third consecutive defeat as Doug Fister had another sub par performance since coming off the DL. Fister has not been sharp, but the staff as a whole has been up and down as of late and when the arms allow runs this team struggles. I think it’s fair to say the Mariners are out of playoff consideration and just as unlikely to reach .500, even more so if they follow through and trade Cliff Lee and others as their focus should be on revamping the lineup with some offense. If they don’t, their pitching will continue to be forced to win games on their own and that’s proven to be unsuccessful thus far. Jason Vargas looks to end the M’s losing streak and his own three game slide when he takes the ball tonight. He has faced the Yanks for the only time in 2009 when he allowed four runs in four innings. Even though Vargas has struggled recently, he has been solid at Safeco this season with a 5-1 mark and accompanied 2.30 ERA covering nine starts. Seattle is 0-4 in the last 4 home games, 1-6 in the past 7 overall and 5-1 in Vargas’ last 6 home starts. New York is 6-2 in their last 8 games versus a left hander, 7-0 in their last 7 as a road favorite and 7-3 in Pettitte’s’s last 10 starts. The numbers suggest Seattle and Vargas have a better than average shot in this one especially considering that Pettitte has had problems with the M’s throughout his career. However, Pettitte is 2-3 with a 2.76 ERA in his last six starts versus Seattle and I think is worth a loo