NEW YORK — Last season Victor Hedman Jersey , New York Yankees right-hander Luis Severino credited things such as getting tips from Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez as a reason why everything came together after a difficult experience in 2016.

This year, Seattle Mariners left-hander James Paxton is joining Severino among the elite pitchers in the American League, and he credits improved conditioning to go along with an aggressive mindset in attacking hitters.

Paxton and Severino will oppose each other Thursday afternoon at Yankee Stadium when the Mariners and Yankees conclude their three-game series.

The Yankees are in position to get the sweep after rallying from five runs down and recording a 7-5 win on Wednesday on Giancarlo Stanton’s two-run homer in the ninth inning off Ryan Cook. The Yankees are 16-4 in their last 20 games and are going for their first home sweep of Seattle since May 23-25, 2008.

Seattle is on its second three-game losing streak after blowing its first five-run lead this season. Despite their worst collapse of the season, the Mariners are 13-6 in their last 19 games and 32-17 in their last 49 games.

Paxton heads into his first career start against the Yankees with a 6-1 record and a 3.44 ERA. After going 18-15 in his first 50 starts since making his debut in 2013, Paxton is 18-7 in his last 39, a stretch that includes a 99-pitch no-hitter last month in Toronto and six of his eight career double-digit strikeout games.

Last season, Paxton was 12-5 with a 2.98 ERA but only made 24 starts due to two stints on the disabled list with a strained left forearm and a strained left pectoral muscle. After five DL stints within the first five years of his career, Paxton refined his conditioning with a program to keep everything working. He described the program in detail while referring to the muscle activation technique.

“You need everything to be firing together at the right time and have all your muscles working together in order for them to be optimal strength and stamina,” Paxton said. “So, that’s what I did this offseason and I continue to work with those guys during the season to allow myself to stay healthy.”

Paxton enters his 90th career start with 115 strikeouts this year, 39 away from his total last season and sixth in the American League.

Paxton said the strikeouts are coming more often because of aggressiveness — resulting in numbers such as a .216 opposing batting average with runners on base, a .194 average with runners in scoring position and a .178 mark when getting ahead of a hitter 0-1.

“I think I’ve gotten more aggressive in the zone and stuff,” he said. I’m not picking around the corners as much. I tried to be a little too perfect I think in the past, got myself in bad counts, allowing guys to cheat on fastballs. I think when I get ahead of guys, it gives me more options, makes them think about more pitches I can throw and gets them off my stuff a little bit.”

Since the no-hitter on May 8 in Toronto, Paxton is 4-0 with a 3.48 ERA in his last seven starts, a number inflated due to his last start.

Paxton is coming off his shortest start of the season when he allowed five earned runs on six hits in 2 1/3 innings Friday against the Boston Red Sox in an eventual 7-6 win.

“He’s matured a ton,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “He knows how important he is for our team and how important it is for him to stay healthy.

“He’s changed a lot of his offseason workouts, his work in between starts, understanding to be able to take the ball every fifth day means so much to our team. He’s really put a priority on that, probably more so than actual pitch sequencing or pitch development.”

As for Severino Yanni Gourde Jersey , he can join Cleveland’s Corey Kluber as the second 11-game winner in the majors with a victory Thursday.

He is 10-2 with a 2.09 ERA after allowing three hits in eight scoreless innings in Saturday’s 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. It was the fourth time he pitched into the eighth inning and fourth scoreless start.

“Obviously anytime he goes, I feel great about it,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “He’s a great pitcher. He’s clearly establishing himself as one of the best in the game.”

Severino was 14-6 with a 2.98 ERA last season after Martinez suggested some mechanical tweaks and encouraged him to include his changeup more frequently. Martinez’s advice took place after Severino finished 3-8 with a 5.83 ERA in 22 appearances in a 2016 campaign that featured a triceps injury and a demotion to the minors.

It has resulted in Severino being able to maintain velocity throughout games, such as Saturday when 23 of his 102 pitches were clocked at 99 mph or higher.

“I’ve played with him all the way through the minor leagues,” Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge said. “This is what I expect out of Sevy. Go out there and just dominate.”

The right-hander is 1-0 with a 2.84 ERA in two career starts against Seattle. He pitched seven scoreless innings in a 4-1 win at Seattle on July 20, 2017, and allowed four runs in 5 2/3 innings in a 7-1 home loss on April 15, 2016.

New York left fielder Brett Gardner missed his third straight game Wednesday with a swollen right knee and is day-to-day. If Gardner does not play, Aaron Hicks will likely bat leadoff.

It took them nearly five hours to finish it, but the Minnesota Twins finally picked up a much-needed win in Chicago.

Max Kepler drew a two-out walk with the bases loaded in the 13th inning for the Twins, who outlasted the White Sox 2-1 on Thursday afternoon for just their second victory in the last seven games.

The Twins pushed across the go-ahead run after Logan Morrison doubled off left fielder Charlie Tilson’s glove. Hector Santiago (2-3), the sixth White Sox reliever, intentionally walked Ehire Adrianza before walking Jake Cave and Kepler.

”That was a good one to win, for sure, not only because we lost the first two but it was a marathon,” Morrison said.

The Twins salvaged the third game of the series against the White Sox and now move on to play three more contests in Chicago against the crosstown Cubs at Wrigley Field starting on Friday afternoon.

Alan Busenitz (2-0), the sixth reliever for Minnesota, pitched 1 2/3 innings for the victory.

The Twins were one out from winning in the ninth inning, but closer Fernando Rodney walked pinch-hitter Daniel Palka, a former Twins farmhand, on four pitches to force in a run. Rodney quickly retired the first two hitters, but Yolmer Sanchez singled to start the rally. Rodney hit Tim Anderson with a pitch, and Tilson walked to load the bases before Palka came to the plate.

Rodney took his fourth blown save in 21 chances this season, ending a streak of 15 consecutive conversions.

”I told him postgame Auston Matthews Jersey , `That’s a heck of a run,”’ manager Paul Molitor said. ”Today it was a two-out bloop and a change-up that he lost command of. Then he started scrambling a bit.”

Morrison hit his ninth home run deep to right to lead off the seventh for the first run of the game. The drive was just Minnesota’s second hit off White Sox starter Lucas Giolito, who didn’t allow any hits until Eddie Rosario lined a double off first baseman Jose Abreu’s glove with one out in the sixth.

Twins starter Jake Odorizzi tossed six shutout innings in his best outing in more than a month, allowing three hits and striking out eight. The righty, who was 0-3 with an 8.77 ERA in his last six turns, said he’s been ”making adjustments from start to start.” The White Sox hardly threatened to score when he was on the mound.

WALKS IN THE PARK

Giolito recovered after walking the bases loaded in the first for his lowest-scoring outing this season. The 6-foot-6 righty, who lowered his ERA from 7.01 to 6.59, allowed one run on four hits and four walks in 6 1/3 innings. He has issued the most walks in the AL with 51.

Giolito escaped the first without allowing a run despite throwing just 11 of his first 26 pitches for strikes. Then he retired 13 straight Twins betters.

”I honestly didn’t have my rhythm until the last batter of the” first inning, Giolito said. ”I did a pretty good job of filling the strike zone after that first inning. They put a lot of balls in play, and the defense was great behind me.”

NO WORRIES

Giolito said he was ”kind of” paying attention to his no-hit bid when it reached the sixth inning. ”I probably would have been more aware of it if I had taken it to the seventh or eighth,” he said.

BOOTED FOR BAD WORDS

Anderson, Chicago’s shortstop, was ejected for the second time in his career in the 11th inning when he argued with umpire Gerry Davis after being caught stealing second. ”I kind of said some bad words,” Anderson said.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: RF Taylor Motter hit the wall hard trying to catch Yoan Moncada’s double in the sixth and will be re-evaluated for chest soreness. Motter stayed down on the warning track for a couple of minutes while being tended to by a team athletic trainer, but he remained in the game until Kepler pinch hit for him in the seventh. … SS Jorge Polanco, almost done with an 80-game suspension for testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug, was scheduled to DH in one game and play SS in the other in a doubleheader for Triple-A Rochester on Thursday. He can be reinstated on July 5.

White Sox: Sanchez left the game with a bruised left quadriceps in the 13th after tripping on first base when he ran out a grounder. He’s day-to-day. … Manager Rick Renteria said OF Nicky Delmonico (broken right middle finger) will start swinging a bat soon, but he isn’t close to beginning a rehab assignment.

UP NEXT

Twins: Ace RHP Jose Berrios (8-5, 3.15) takes the mound against LHP Mike Montgomery (2-2, 3.39) when the Twins meet the Cubs on Friday. Berrios has won his last three decisions over five starts in June and has a 2.10 ERA during the span.

White Sox: RHP Dylan Covey (3-2, 3.45) faces RHP Yovani Gallardo when Chicago opens a three-game series at Texas on Friday. Covey left in the fifth inning of his previous start last Saturday with a right hip flexor strain, but after throwing a bullpen session on Tuesday he said he felt fine.

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