SEATTLE — Mike Ford has a Princeton University education and a body that resembles a run-stopping nose tackle.

Combine those two attributes with a sweet left-handed swing and you get the latest Yankees first baseman contributing to a team headed for the American League East title.

Ford homered twice Monday night and led the Yankees to a 5-4 victory over the Mariners in front of 23,030 at T-Mobile Park. His two-run homer in the second and solo blast in the fourth were off lefty Tommy Milone and raised his total to eight in 97 at-bats this season. His first multi-home run game of a brief major league career followed a homer off Clayton Kershaw, a lefty way above Milone in the pecking order, during Sunday’s win over the Dodgers in Los Angeles.

When the season opened, Greg Bird and Luke Voit were at first. Then Bird got hurt. DJ LeMahieu and Voit handled it for a while. Kendrys Morales played several games there, was injured and vanished. Voit went down with a sports hernia and Edwin Encarnacion landed on the IL with a fractured right wrist.

That necessitated the Yankees elevating the left-handed-hitting Ford for a third time this year from Triple-A in early August.

With Voit possibly escaping the IL on Friday, Ford’s roster spot could be in jeopardy, but after what he has done the past two games, that would be a tough call.

A Rule 5 pick by the Mariners out of the Yankees’ organization in 2017, Ford was returned to the Yankees in spring training the following year.

“I try to keep that out of my mind. There are no hard feelings but it is definitely nice to stick it to them,’’ Ford said of the Mariners, who are last in the AL West while the Yankees are cruising toward their first division title since 2012.

J.A. Happ went five innings, gave up three runs, two hits, walked three and struck out seven for the win. He is 11-8. The homer he gave up, the 32nd he’s allowed this season, was a three-run poke to center in the second to Dylan Moore on a change-up that cut into the middle of the plate. Happ’s bloated home run total is second to Justin Verlander’s AL-leading 33.

“I felt good, the fastball had some life to it. I felt like I could have given us more,’’ said Happ, who threw 95 pitches.

The victory, which included Gleyber Torres’ 33rd homer, increased the Yankees’ AL East lead to 9½ games over the idle Rays.

What would a Yankee game be lately without an in-depth discussion with the umpires?

Monday night’s incident involved plate umpire Manny Gonzalez going to the mound and having a discussion with former Mariner reliever Cory Gearrin about the toe tap he uses with his left foot. Eventually crew chief Sam Holbrook joined the conversation and when the scrum, which included catcher Austin Romine and Aaron Boone, ended, Gearrin was assessed a ball and later a balk because he violated a rule with his delivery that he says MLB has told him is legal.

“We felt he was resetting his foot with his delivery to the plate which they are not allowed to do. Before we called anything, [plate umpire] Manny [Gonzalez] did a good job and sent the catcher out to give him a heads up. So he wanted to call us out there, so we went out there and spoke with him,’’ Holbrook said. “Boone wound up coming out and we explained to him that what he was doing, he couldn’t do. Once the runner was on first base, he did it again, and that is when Manny called the balk. He said what he was doing was legal. We felt he was setting [the foot] down a second time.’’

Nestor Cortes Jr. relieved Gearrin and gave up a homer to Mallex Smith in the seventh. Tommy Kahnle worked a perfect eighth and Aroldis Chapman posted his 36th save in 41 chances.