Juan Soto OK after injury scare in Yankees' loss to Mariners

SEATTLE – A loss was something the Yankees could deal with.

The more significant loss that almost was?

That could have been one potentially sinking their season.

The Yankees fell to the Mariners, 3-2, Thursday afternoon at T-Mobile Park, a defeat that took a backseat to the crash Juan Soto had with the wall in foul ground in right.

Giving chase to a Jorge Polanco tailing foul ball down the line in the seventh inning, Soto, sliding left knee first, went hard into the lower part of the wall – unpadded and pure concrete – with the knee.

After trying to get up, Soto, who made what was among the season’s best catches by a Yankees outfielder for the second out (it was initially ruled the ball grazed the wall, but the Yankees challenged and the play was overturned), fell back to the ground and a hush fell over the crowd of 34,255.

Centerfielder Aaron Judge was the first to reach Soto, followed by second baseman Gleyber Torres, with manager Aaron Boone and trainer Tim Lentych out soon after.

After several minutes, Soto, who played all 162 games last season with the Padres and 149 games so far this season, gingerly got up and stayed in the game (and took his position in right in the eighth).

He said afterward the knee, which will undergo X-rays on Friday, felt “pretty good. Not bad at all,” especially in comparison to how it felt in the moments after impact.

“Really worried,” Soto, who walked with a slight limp in the clubhouse afterward, a red mark on his left kneecap visible from the damage done by the concrete, said of his initial reaction. “I was straight into the concrete. Just (felt) really a lot of pain in my kneecap. After time it started going down and felt better. Definitely it was a little scary right there.”

A serious knee injury, of course, could have meant plenty for Soto, due to hit free agency this winter and and his future. The 25-year-old is expected to command a contract of at least $500 million, with many industry executives believing the total will approach $600 million, or beyond.

“Free agency and this and that, when I go (between) those lines, I forget about everything,” Soto said. “I literally just focus on the game and trying to win the game and help the team.”

As for the game, the Yankees, had plenty of chances Thursday but nothing to show for it other than a two-run homer by Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the second inning that made it 3-2. The Yankees went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight.

The Yankees (89-64), who clinched a playoff berth here late Wednesday night and enjoyed a raucous clubhouse celebration afterward, a celebration replete with inexpensive bubbly and beer sprayed about – a bit of it, maybe, even consumed.

They were, predictably, not sharp in the early going.

The Mariners (78-75) sent nine to the plate in what was a slapdash first inning by the Yankees, one that included a dropped fly ball by leftfielder Jasson Dominguez that led direction to a run.

Clarke Schmidt, likely bullpen-bound for the first round of the playoffs but who nonetheless will garner his share of internal support for a rotation spot with a strong finish, allowed three runs (one earned), six hits and three walks over five innings in which he struck out seven.

Schmidt, who threw 26 pitches in the first en route to throwing 99 for the game, mishandled a bunt in the first by Luke Raley that was scored as a hit but easily could have been called an error.

Mariners righty Logan Gilbert, who came in 7-11 but with a 3.24 ERA, allowed two runs, six hits and two walks over 5 1/3 innings in which he struck out nine.

“Obviously, the outing was a grind as a whole, but to be able to put up four zeroes after the first inning, I was really happy with that,” said Schmidt, who fell to 5-4 but with a 2.37 ERA. “Obviously, the first inning wasn’t what we wanted, but able to grind through so happy with that.”

Cousins departs

Righty Jake Cousins, with a 2.39 ERA in 36 games, replaced Schmidt in the sixth and was removed after throwing six pitches because of what the Yankees called “right pec tightness.” Cousins said he first felt discomfort in the pec during Sunday’s outing against Boston and the Yankees did not pitch him again until Thursday. “Hopefully, it’s just a couple of days,” Cousins said of how long he’ll be down. “I don’t think it’s anything more than that.”