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Mariners top Yankees; A-Rod fractures hand

Jul 25, 2012 - 6:39 AM Seattle, WA (Sports Network) - Felix Hernandez came in red hot, and remained that way after solving his home struggles against the New York Yankees.

The 26-year-old Venezuelan fired 7 1/3 innings of two-run ball, outdueling fellow countryman and childhood idol Freddy Garcia, as the Seattle Mariners edged the Yankees, 4-2, in the middle installment of a three-game set.

It was a rough loss for the Yankees, who will be without star third baseman Alex Rodriguez. He's headed to the disabled list with a fracture of his left hand.

Rodriguez was drilled on the hand by Hernandez in the eighth inning. He collapsed to the ground in agony after being pegged with an 88 mph change-up and was removed from the game. Rodriguez was the third and final hit batsman by Hernandez in a span of five batters.

"He's got a non-displaced fracture," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "Until Dr. Ahmad sees him I won't comment...He's been swinging the bat really good too."

Eric Chavez, who had a similar injury and missed eight weeks, will replace Rodriguez at third.

"Al (Rodriguez) is so important to our team. This is definitely going to hurt," Chavez said.

Hernandez (9-5) fanned four, scattered four hits and walked three for Seattle, which has won six of its last nine games.

The right-hander is 5-0 with a minuscule 1.49 ERA over his last eight outings. He came in with a 2-3 mark and a 4.43 ERA versus the Yankees at home as opposed to a 4-2 record and a 2.49 ERA against them in the Bronx.

Tom Wilhemsen struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth to notch his 11th save of the year.

Garcia (4-4) retired the last 15 batters he saw, struck out eight and surrendered three runs on five hits for New York, which has dropped five of its last six.

Garcia, who spent the first five-plus years of his career with the Mariners, is 5-4 against his former club with a 5.08 ERA in 11 starts.

In his second game with the Yankees, Ichiro Suzuki went 1-for-3.

Both teams traded runs in the opening frame as Curtis Granderson launched a solo shot to right in the top half and Michael Saunders smacked a blast to right in the home half.

Seattle, though, plated two in the third. Brendan Ryan began the frame with a single and after Dustin Ackley flied out, Saunders' base hit to right put runners on the corners with one away.

Jesus Montero fisted a single to right, plating Ryan, and John Jaso lifted a sacrifice fly to center to bring home Saunders, giving the Mariners a 3-1 advantage.

New York loaded the bases with one out in the fourth, but Hernandez struck out Raul Ibanez and got Chavez to line out to center, ending the threat.

"That's what he does. He bears down, he steps up in those types of opportunities, he executes pitches, he's just a great competitor with great stuff. That was pretty impressive that inning," Mariners manager Eric Wedge said.

The Yankees got a run back in the eighth on Mark Teixeira's sacrifice fly to center, but Seattle answered in the bottom half to regain its two-run margin.

With the bases loaded and two outs, Kyle Seager's infield single brought home Ackley to make it 4-2.

Game Notes

Granderson's round-tripper was his 27th of the season...The Yankees were 2- for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranded seven, while Seattle finished 2-for-3 with RISP and left five men on base...Jaso had his 10-game home hitting streak snapped...Rodriguez struck out for the 2,000th time in his career in the sixth.