MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: The Yankees were briefly in a panic during the seventh inning of yesterday’s loss to the Mariners. Juan Soto made an outstanding defensive play to retire Jorge Polanco and preserve the one-run deficit, but in his slide, he smashed his left knee into the wall, which felt like straight concrete (per Soto). He was down for a little bit and, and Aaron Judge, Aaron Boone, and trainer Tim Lentych went out to check on him. Thankfully, he seemed OK and stayed in. Soto said that he wasn’t sure if he would start the next game tonight in Oakland, but both he and Boone were optimistic that he avoided anything serious. He will get X-rays just to make sure, though. As a small secondary note, reliever Jake Cousins did leave yesterday’s game after six pitches with what the Yankees called “right pec tightness.” No tests are planned at the moment, as it’s something that Cousins has been managing. NJ.com | Jimmy Hascup: Now that the Yankees have clinched a postseason berth, the attention turns to finishing off this division race, with the club enjoying a four-game lead over the Orioles. While the team still maintains its World Series or bust mantra, the pressure is growing on manager Aaron Boone. Boone of course took over the job after the Yankees lost in Game 7 of the 2017 ALCS, and hasn’t been able to match that in his time as manager. The Yankees have an option on his contract for the 2025 season, and how far Boone can take his boys this October will likely dictate whether that option gets picked up. New York Post | Jon Heyman: With one notable exception, the bullpen is rounding into form ahead of the Yankees’ pennant chase. The relief corps has always been the point of concern for most of the season, but five big arms — Tommy Kahnle, Luke Weaver, Jake Cousins, Ian Hamilton and Tim Hill — have all gone on scoreless streaks of at least four appearances. The elephant in the room is of course former closer Clay Holmes though, who has blown two saves since leaving the closer role. FanGraphs | Michael Baumann: Between Gerrit Cole’s intentional walk, Victor Robles’ attempted steal of home and that double play on Wednesday night, it’s been a weird week of baseball. Baumann goes deep on the Robles decision, where the speedster clearly overestimated how long Luis Gil would take to settle himself in a three-ball count. With how the inning was going, Robles was probably better off sticking at third, but at least we got to see something we’d never seen before. MLB.com | AJ Cassavell: Old friend Michael King and his wife Sheila have spent their split-coast time working with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Sheila was diagnosed with the condition in 2018, and now, the two have developed their own foundation to raise money and awareness for kids living with Type 1 diabetes. The King of the Hill Foundation officially launched Thursday. King talked to Cassavell about this new endeavor, and how watching former teammates CC Sabathia and Aaron Judge impact their communities motivated him to do the same.

Two days after speaking openly about his upcoming free agent bonanza, New York Yankees star right fielder Juan Soto found himself on the ground at T-Mobile Park on Thursday, having smashed his knee left on the wall while making a sliding catch.

While Juan Soto seemingly avoided an injury scare, the Yankees were not so lucky with Jake Cousins in a loss to the Mariners.

The rightfielder slammed hard into the wall in foul territory pursuing a fly ball, but after several tense minutes stayed in the game.