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Eighth-inning rally fuels Yankees

May 25, 2008 - 10:00 PM By Doug Mittler PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

BRONX, New York (Ticker) - Yankee Stadium has been a house of horrors for the Seattle Mariners. So it was only fitting that their final regular season game there was especially painful - and equally enjoyable to the New York Yankees.

The Yankees took advantage of a pair of miscues to score four times in the eighth inning Sunday and complete a three-game sweep of the Mariners with a 6-5 victory.

The Mariners seemed on the verge of stopping their season-high losing streak, but they unraveled in the decisive eighth inning and spoiled a solid six-inning effort by Jarrod Washburn.

Seattle, which squandered a 5-2 lead, lost all six games at Yankee Stadium this season and is 73-98 all-time at the famed venue. The Yankees are playing their final season at the faciliity before moving into a new stadium across the street next season.

"A loss is a loss," Seattle manager John McLaren said. "We put so much into it. We just couldn't get the win."

A costly throwing error by closer J.J. Putz and a misplay by center fielder Ichiro Suzuki helped hand Seattle its sixth straight defeat.

The Yankees capitalized on the good fortune, extending their winning streak to a season-best five games and returning to .500 for the first time since May 10.

"Nothing went our way for a while," Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon said. "It seems like the last couple of games we're finding some luck. We're finding some good swings. It's definitely a lot more fun."

Seattle took a 5-2 lead into the eighth before Sean Green walked Derek Jeter to lead off the inning. Arthur Rhodes relieved and allowed a run-scoring double to Bobby Abreu before Putz (1-2) took over and walked Alex Rodriguez.

After Jason Giambi struck out, pinch hitter Hideki Matsui hit a slow roller to the right side. Putz caught the ball with a diving stop, but the ball slipped out of his hand as he threw from a prone position, allowing the fourth Yankee run to score.

"I couldn't get a grip on it," Putz said. "I would have been better off eating it. I got caught up in the moment."

Robinson Cano then tied the game with a sacrifice fly. The inning continued when Suzuki appeared to lose sight of a fly ball fall by Jose Molina that fell between him and right fielder Wladimir Balentien for an RBI double.

"It was a difficult chance," Suzuki said through a translator. "I was shifted over."

Edwar Ramirez (1-0) pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of Chien-Ming Wang to earn the win and Mariano Rivera worked the ninth for his 12th save.

"It's been a nice streak," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "We want to keep it going."

Suzuki homered and drove in a pair of runs and Jose Vidro had a two-run single for the Mariners.

Wang remained winless in his last four starts, but was spared a defeat by the late rally. The righthander allowed five runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings, and was not impressed with his outing.

"Not good," Wang said. "My (pitches) were all over the place."

The Mariners had allowed nine or more runs in five straight games, the second-longest streak in franchise history.

Among the culprits has been Washburn, who was tagged for nine runs in 2 1/3 innings Tuesday against Detroit. The 33-year-old lefthander found his groove on Sunday, allowing two runs and four hits.

"We're a good team," Washburn said. "We know that. We're just playing terrible baseball."

Derek Jeter snapped an 0-for-18 drought with an RBI double and Damon had his first extra-base hit since May 5 with a third-inning double.

Suzuki homered in the third inning and drove in another run in a two-run fourth. Vidro's two-run single gave the Mariners a 5-2 lead in the seventh and chased Wang.