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June 21st, 2023

After falling under .500 at the hands of Gerrit Cole and the Yankees on Tuesday, the Mariners will look to break even in the middle game of a three-game set in MLB.TV’s Free Game of the Day on Wednesday.

Cole (7 1/3 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K) righted the ship for the Yankees (40-33) following a brutal weekend in Boston in which they were outscored 25-8 in a three-game sweep at the hands of the Red Sox.

The Yankees will recall rookie right-hander Jhony Brito to start Wednesday. Brito opened the season in New York’s rotation, pitching to a 5.58 ERA with 30 strikeouts in 40 1/3 innings (10 games, 9 starts) before being demoted on May 21.

The Mariners (35-36) will have a cruising Luis Castillo on the mound. Castillo has dominated the Yankees in recent history. He made three brilliant starts against them in 2022, going 1-0 with a 1.66 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 21 2/3 innings.

Both clubs come into the game hampered by their offenses. While the Mariners have gotten a boost from a surging Teoscar Hernández (.327/.403/.582 in last 15 games), the rest of the lineup has gone cold. Julio Rodríguez is hitting just .222 in June, but last year's AL Rookie of the Year is always a threat to turn things around quickly. On Sunday, in his 200th career game, J-Rod stole his 40th career base and joined Fernando Tatis Jr. as the only players to reach 40 homers and 40 steals that quickly to begin a career.

The Yankees, meanwhile, are still suffering from the absence of Aaron Judge, sidelined with a sprained toe he sustained making an incredible catch at Dodger Stadium on June 3. In 13 games since Judge sustained the injury, the Yankees have scored just 3.2 runs per game and have posted MLB's lowest team batting average (.200) and OPS (.605).