Yankees notes

SEATTLE — Aaron Boone said dropping Sonny Gray into the rotation Tuesday night against the Twins in Minneapolis is being done to give the other starters extra rest with the hope they are strong for October.

It also puts Luis Severino in position to make two starts against the AL Eastleading Red Sox in the final two weeks of the season.

“I feel fine,’’ Severino said before the Yankees lost to the Mariners 3-2 on Sunday. “Now I am on pace to pitch against Boston twice.’’

At the All-Star break Severino would have been a lock to start the Oct. 3 AL wild-card game, which will likely be against the A’s. Now that isn’t a sure thing after an 11-game stretch in which Severino has gone 4-5 with a 6.83 ERA and hitters are batting .323 against him with a .934 OPS

J.A. Happ, who starts Monday against the Twins, and Masahiro Tanaka, who dominated the Mariners for eight innings Friday, have become serious options for Boone.

“We felt it buys everybody a little bit of rest at this time of the [year]. It actually buys him a couple of extra days,’’ Boone said of Tanaka, who will start Friday against the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium on six days’ rest. “With the couple of off days coming up [Thursday and next Monday] it is a chance to get everyone back-to-back turns an extra day here and there that will hopefully show its effects at the end of the season and on into the postseason.’’

Since hitting his 300th career homer on Aug. 30, Giancarlo Stanton has gone cold at the plate. His 1for-5 in Sunday’s loss to the Mariners stretched his slump to 4-for-33 (.121). The one hit was a bloop double that left fielder Cameron Maybin and shortstop Jean Segura failed to get together on.

Boone is hopeful AllStar closer Aroldis Chapman’s left knee is healthy enough to allow him to appear in some games before the AL wild-card game.

Chapman worked out on a treadmill and threw Saturday in Tampa.