Mariners Vs. Yankees

A look at the best-of-five playoff series between the Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees, which begins today:

Season series

Seattle won, 9-4.

Matchups

Mariners: A.L. batting champion Edgar Martinez wrecked the Yankees, hitting seven home runs with 20 RBIs. He batted .391 and drew 10 walks… . Tino Martinez homered five times and ex-Yankee Jay Buhner connected four times, helping the Mariners outhomer New York 23-9… . Randy Johnson was 1-0 in three starts. He hit Jim Leyritz with a pitch in midseason, causing a ruckus… . Norm Charlton pitched well in three relief appearances… . Vince Coleman stole four bases in six games.

Yankees: Wade Boggs (.391, 8 RBIs) and Paul O’Neill (.381, 11 RBIs) were New York’s best hitters against Seattle. … David Cone lost his only start while with the Yankees… . Jack McDowell was 1-0 in two starts… . New York split six games at home, but was just 1-6 at the Kingdome… . Relief ace John Wetteland pitched in five games, going 0-1 with two saves and a 4.50 ERA. … Starters Sterling Hitchcock and Scott Kamieniecki, both keys to the stretch run, begin the playoffs in the bullpen.

The big picture

Mariners: Reached postseason for first time in 19-year history by beating California 9-1 in a one-game playoff Monday for A.L. West title… . Johnson, able to pitch only once because Seattle needed him to beat the Angels, should win his first Cy Young Award. He was 18-2, led the majors in strikeouts and led the A.L. in ERA… . Mariners filled with New York connections. Manager Lou Piniella played for and managed the Yankees, Mike Blowers and Buhner played in New York and Coleman was exiled by the Mets. Griffey spent lots of time at Yankee Stadium as a kid watching his dad play. General manager Woody Woodward held same job for Yankees.

Yankees: A.L.’s first wild-card winner. Faced 5-1/2-game deficit on Aug. 26, but won 22 of 28 to clinch first postseason appearance since losing the 1981 World Series to Los Angeles… . Don Mattingly reaches playoffs for first time. He’s played 1,785 regular-season games without making it - most among active players and most in Yankees history. … Wade Boggs and Tony Fernandez, both injured in the final weeks, should be ready. … Yankees have much better defense than Seattle, making 30 fewer errors… . Wetteland has retired 22 straight batters, striking out 13. … Darryl Strawberry has not played since a week ago Saturday.

Lineups

Mariners: Vince Coleman lf, Joey Cora 2b, Ken Griffey Jr. cf, Edgar Martinez dh, Tino Martinez 1b, Jay Buhner rf, Mike Blowers 3b, Luis Sojo ss, Dan Wilson c.

Yankees: Wade Boggs 3b, Bernie Williams cf, Paul O’Neill rf, Ruben Sierra dh, Dion James lf, Don Mattingly 1b, Mike Stanley c, Tony Fernandez ss, Pat Kelly 2b.

Rotations

Mariners: Chris Bosio, Andy Benes, Randy Johnson. Mariners had hoped to save Johnson for Game 1, but needed him for Monday’s playoff.

Yankees: David Cone, Andy Pettitte, Jack McDowell. Yankees hope McDowell, sidelined since Sept. 21 by a bad back, is ready to return.