The Mariners will be using Wednesday's finale to rest several of their regular starters with the series win clinched.
SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners will be looking for a sweep against one of the best teams in baseball when it takes on the Philadelphia Phillies at 1:10 p.m. PT on Wednesday at T-Mobile Park.
The Mariners took the first two games of the series by scores of 9-2 and 4-1 on Monday and Tuesday, respectively. Tuesday's victory clinched the second-straight series win for Seattle against a National League team in the playoff picture, which couldn't have come at a more crucial point in the season.
The Mariners entered Wednesday 2.5 games out of first place in the American League West and three games out of the final wild card spot in the American League.
With a relatively weak strength of schedule for Seattle set for September and their proximity to the playoff picture, every game for the remainder of August lies firmly in the "must-win" category for the Mariners.
However, Seattle will be looking for a victory in the series finale against Philadelphia without several of its regular starting position players.
The Mariners' lineup for Wednesday's game featured Taylor Ward leading off in right field, Randy Arozarena batting second and playing left, Julio Rodriguez in the three-spot in center field, Cal Raleigh hitting cleanup on a designated hitter day, Patrick Wisdom at first base hitting in the five-hole, J.P. Crawford at shortstop hitting sixth, Weston Wilson at third base and batting seventh, Jhonny Pereda at catcher hitting eighth and Brock Rodden rounding up the order while playing second base.
Cole Young (second base), Josh Naylor (first base) and Dominic Canzone (right field) are among the players who are receiving rest days. They'll be available or hit off the bench later in the game, per Mariners manager Dan Wilson.
With an off-day scheduled for Thursday, this will be a chance for those aforementioned Seattle players to receive multiple days of rest.
Wednesday will be the first day off for Young, who's played in all 133 games for the M's this season. He leads the squad in games played and at-bats (487). Naylor is second in both categories and Canzone is fifth in both stats.
Young has slashed .248/.308/.390 this season with a .698 OPS and has hit 15 doubles, three triples and 16 home runs with 57 RBIs. He's second in the major leagues and first in the American League in defensive runs saved among second basemen (16).
"With tomorrow being an off-day, kind of get two-for-one there and a chance to get some of these guys a little bit more rest," Wilson said in a pregame interview Wednesday at T-Mobile Park. "(Naylor) has been banged up, too. Chance for him to get a little bit of a (rest) also. Trying to be advantageous here with the off-day. What Cole has done for us all season long, and what he continues to do, want to make sure he's in a good spot for the rest of the way."
