Mariners notebook: Polanco tests hamstring; Crawford nearing return

BALTIMORE — The Mariners infield could return to full strength this week.

That, at least, is how manager Scott Servais hopes things play out when the Mariners arrive in New York to start a four-game series against the Yankees on Monday night.

Out of the lineup for a fifth consecutive game, Mariners second baseman Jorge Polanco tested his sore right hamstring on Sunday afternoon at Camden Yards, going through some explosive running drills with team strength coaches and trainers.

He appeared to be moving well and without discomfort.

Servais would like to have Polanco’s bat in the lineup at Yankee Stadium when the Mariners open the series.

“He is feeling better,” Servais said. “That’s why we are holding off as long as we can to try to avoid the IL situation. He feels good swinging the bat. I don’t think he’s quite 100 percent moving around on the field … but he is feeling better.”

If Polanco is not feeling well enough to play Monday, he will likely be placed on the injured list.

Rookie outfielder Jonatan Clase flew to Baltimore and joined the team ahead of Sunday’s series finale against the Orioles. He’s part of the taxi squad — a precautionary move in case Polanco does need an IL stint.

Shortstop J.P. Crawford, meanwhile, is expected to join the team at some point in New York this week.

“The latest I’ve heard is he’s going to meet us over in New York — I don’t know when exactly that’s going to be,” Servais said.

Crawford has been on the IL since April 25 with an oblique strain. He was expecting to join the team in Baltimore this weekend, but then he was hit by a pitch in the hand/wrist on Wednesday during his second rehab game with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers.

Rare start for Raley at first

Luke Raley, the Mariners’ hottest hitter in May, was in the lineup batting cleanup and playing first base for Sunday’s series finale against the Orioles’ right-handed ace, Corbin Burnes.

It was just the fourth start at first base for Raley this season, but it’s something Servais could do more often against tough right-handed pitchers.

Servais stopped short of calling first base a full-time platoon with Ty France and Raley, but he wants both Raley and Dominic Canzone’s left-handed bats in the lineups against right-handers.

“As we get through this stretch, it’s something that we talked about here about a week ago — making sure we’re giving our guys days off,” Servais said. “You try to match those up as best you can. In the past it was always like, ‘Ah, this guy’s been scuffling for a couple days, let’s give him a day off.’ It’s actually a good thing if you can give a guy a day off after he’s going good.

“Ty’s been really good. He thought he had a great homestand; we get on the trip and he had a really good game [Saturday] night. But you need to give guys a blow.”

France doubled Saturday night to drive in Dylan Moore for the tying run in the seventh inning to win a 12-pitch battle with Baltimore reliever Albert Suarez.

Woo returns to Yankee Stadium

Logan Gilbert is scheduled to start for the Mariners against the Yankees in Monday’s series opener, with Bryan Woo, Bryce Miller and Luis Castillo also set to start in the series.

The Yankees have announced their probable starters for the series: RHP Marcus Stroman (Monday); RHP Clarke Schmidt (Tuesday); LHP Nestor Cortes (Wednesday); and RHP Luis Gil (Thursday).

Woo returns to Yankee Stadium for the first time since he picked up his first major-league win in the Bronx last June, when he threw 5.1 shutout innings, allowing just two hits with three walks and five strikeouts.

“The first win you never really forget,” the Mariners’ 24-year-old right-hander said. “Looking back, it was a pretty cool experience. I think it definitely boosted [the feeling] of being able to settle in and thinking, ‘OK, I can do this — I cannot only succeed but do it at a high level no matter where I go or who we play.’”

That was Woo’s fourth big-league start, and he was able to celebrate with a large gathering of family and friends who were there.

His parents, Hilary and Clayton, have traveled from the Bay Area to just about every one of his starts with the Mariners over the past year. He’s hopeful his maternal grandmother, Joyce, can make the trip from South Carolina to Yankee Stadium this week; she has not seen him pitch in person since he was a kid.

After spending the first six weeks of the season in the IL, Woo has allowed only one run over 9.2 innings in his first two starts of the year, wins over Oakland and Kansas City at home. He has allowed just four hits, with two walks and eight strikeouts, and he says he’s feeling strong.

Tuesday will be his first road start of the season, and it figures to be a much stiffer challenge. Aaron Judge was out of the lineup when he faced the Yankees last year, and over the winter they acquired star Juan Soto, who is off to an MVP-quality start in New York.

The Yankees (33-15) are in first place in the AL East, two games in front of the Orioles.