The Yankees pitching has been outstanding last since the All-Star break and it continued last night as the Yankees won their 5th straight, 5-2, over the Seattle Mariners. Sergio Mitre pitched an effective 5 1/3 innings, allowing 1 earned run and the Yankees bullpen threw 3 2/3 scoreless innings with 8 of the 11 outs recorded via strikeout.
Nick Swisher’s 2-run home run highlighted a 4-run 3rd inning after the Yankees fell behind 1-0 in the 1st. With Robinson Cano aboard on a single and 1 out, Franklin Gutierrez couldn’t handle Melky Cabrera’s fly ball for what would prove to be a costly error. Jose Molina tied the game with a single and Derek Jeter put the Yankees ahead 2-1 with a sacrifice fly. Jeter would add an insurance run in the 9th with his 15th home run of the season. Swisher, batting from the right side against left-hander Luke French, ripped a hook shot down the left field line that stayed inside the foul pole for a 4-1 Yankees lead.
Mitre was tagged for single runs in the 1st and 4th innings, but retired Josh Wilson with a man on 2nd and 2 outs in the 4th. He left after loading the bases with one out in the 6th, but David Robertson struck out Wilson swinging and got Ryan Langerhans looking on a 3-2 pitch that appeared to be out of the zone.
The Yankees caught a big break in the 7th thanks to a rare fundamental mistake by Ichiro Suzuki. The right-fielder led the inning off with a single and moved to 2nd base on Jose Lopez’s 1-out single. Phil Coke came on to strike out Ken Griffey Jr. for the 2nd out. Then with Russell Branyan at the plate, Ichiro attempted to steal 3rd, but was thrown out by Molina to end the threat.
The M’s put two aboard against Mariano Rivera in the 9th, but the Yankees closer picked up his league leading 35th save by striking out Gutierrez and retiring Lopez on a fly to Swisher in right.
Game Notes
After sitting out 2 games with a sore elbow, Alex Rodriguez returned to the lineup and was 1-2 with 2 walks. Johnny Damon got the night off.
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