#Yankees’ Kyle Higashioka did it all defensively: Aaron Boone

Kyle Higashioka went 0-for-5 Friday night and left seven men on base, but his work behind the plate still helped the Yankees pull off a 3-2, 11-inning win over the Mariners at the Stadium.

Starting a third straight day for only the third time in his career — with Gary Sanchez on the COVID-19 injured list — Higashioka navigated a game plan while catching nine different pitchers, who combined to allow just one earned run in a bullpen game for the Yankees.

“He’s a big story in this,” manager Aaron Boone said. “To be able to [be] ready with the game plan and execute it, his receiving was tremendous. He always is, but it was especially noticeable tonight.”

Higashioka also chipped in with his arm. After Chad Green allowed the go-ahead run in the 10th inning, he and Higashioka combined for a strike-’em-out, throw-’em-out double play to cut down J.P. Crawford at second base as Mitch Haniger whiffed.

Even before catching all 11 innings Friday, Higashioka was expected to get Saturday off as the Yankees monitor his workload in Sanchez’s absence.

“We’ll be mindful of that and get Rob [Brantly] in there as well to share that load with him,” Boone said.

Higashioka temporarily supplanted Sanchez as the Yankees’ starting catcher late last season and again early this year before the former cooled off and the latter heated up. But Higashioka has yet to shoulder a heavy schedule. He had started back-to-back days just twice this season before this week.

The only other times Higashioka had started more than two days in a row were three straight in the 2020 ALDS and four straight in 2018 while Sanchez dealt with an injury.

“It’s never a good thing when somebody goes down, with either COVID or injury,” Higashioka said. “I’ll graciously accept any opportunity that comes my way, but just first and foremost, hope Gary’s feeling all right.”

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After never playing third base in the first 925 games of his big league career, Rougned Odor started at the hot corner for the fifth straight game Friday night. Pressed into duty at the position because of Gio Urshela’s strained hamstring, Odor had been error-free in his first four games there while beginning to get comfortable.

Odor worked at third base in spring training for the Rangers, and Boone said that experience helped as the Yankees tried to keep DJ LeMahieu at second base due to a recently strained triceps.

“I think he’s held his own over there,” Boone said. “I still think it’s just a matter of getting that game experience, where he’ll continue to get better at understanding how you make certain plays over there.”

“I still think it’s just a matter of getting that game experience, where he’ll continue to get better at understanding how you make certain plays over there.”

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The Yankees’ playoff hopes got a boost Friday from across the country. Athletics center fielder Ramon Laureano was hit with an 80-game suspension after testing positive for Nandrolone, a performance-enhancing drug. Laureano was hitting .246 with 14 home runs, a 112 OPS-plus and 12 steals as one of the most important players for the A’s, who entered Friday leading the Yankees by 1 ½ games for the final AL wild-card spot.

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RHP Clarke Schmidt (elbow strain), who said after a rehab start Thursday for Double-A Somerset that he felt he could get big league hitters out now, will make another start Tuesday for Somerset or Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. … The Yankees had no news on the COVID-19 front Friday after having Sanchez, Gerrit Cole and Jordan Montgomery test positive earlier in the week.