Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Yesterday, we discussed how the Yankees very much needed to have a strong road trip out west.

An 11-2 win in Seattle later, the team got the memo. New York’s bats dominated the Mariners throughout the game thanks to home runs and hard hits.

New York led 4-0 early on thanks to a pair of two-run hits from captain and likely MVP Aaron Judge. He doubled to left in the first inning and singled in the second.

The home runs, however, started with the amazing Juan Soto in the fourth inning. Already in the midst of a career season (And in his contract year!), Soto slugged a two-run shot to left center to make it 6-1. It was his career-best 40th home run of the season, the 200th of his career, and Soto has now homered in every MLB park.

One frame later, Jasson Dominguez’s bat speed finally caught up with MLB pitching. He worked the count full against Bryan Woo, then hit a solo shot 414 feet to dead center.

That was the end of the Yankees’ homers, but not the hard hits. Austin Wells took big swings all game before finally connecting in the sixth inning. He worked the count full, then drilled a Jhonathan Diaz sinker to right-center for a bases-clearing double.

New York’s pitching staff also showed up despite some early struggles. Luis Gil worked around three walks and a hit batter to finish with five innings of one-run ball, five strikeouts, and the win.

The real hero on the mound, however, was Marcus Stroman. The veteran took his recent move to the bullpen like a pro, practically embracing it. In turn, he pitched the final three innings for his second career save.

It was a great night for the Yankees, who can clinch a playoff berth with a win on Wednesday. The first pitch is slated for 9:40 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime Video.

Josh Benjamin has been a staff writer at ESNY since 2018. He has had opinions about everything, especially the Yankees and Knicks. He co-hosts the “Bleacher Creatures” podcast and is always looking for new pieces of sports history to uncover, usually with a Yankee Tavern chicken parm sub in hand.