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Mariners eye first place and a sweep of Yankees

May 29, 2011 - 2:36 PM (Sports Network) - The Seattle Mariners could be atop the American League West standings by the end of the day. However, if they have any chance of that happening they need to complete their first-ever three-game sweep of the New York Yankees at Safeco Field.

Completing the hat trick could be easier said than done, though, as the Mariners haven't swept the Yankees at home since August of 1996 when the team played at the Kingdome and was led by a young shortstop named Alex Rodriguez.

Not to mention New York will be send left-hander CC Sabathia to the hill this afternoon in search of his third straight win.

Sabathia went the distance to beat the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday, as he allowed four runs and eight hits, while retiring the final 16 batters in his first nine-inning complete game at home for the Yankees

"It's one of those things - they hadn't hit the ball hard, but they're all line drives in the box score," Sabathia said. "My job is to keep it close and good things are going to happen."

Sabathia has had his way with the Mariners over the course of his career, going 9-4 with a 2.58 ERA in 17 games against them. But, he could have his hands full today, as Seattle has clawed its way over .500 and has pulled within a half game of the Texas Rangers in the AL West thanks to wins in nine of its last 10 games.

The Mariners were able to overcome a shaky outing from Felix Hernandez on Saturday, as Adam Kennedy delivered an RBI bloop single in the 12th inning to lift Seattle to a 5-4 victory.

With one out, Justin Smoak singled and Jack Cust doubled before Yankees closer Mariano Rivera intentionally walked Franklin Gutierrez to load the bases. Kennedy then knocked an 0-1 fastball from Rivera (1-1) into shallow center field, scoring pinch runner Luis Rodriguez without a play at the plate.

"Sometimes in extra innings guys start to lose focus, but everybody stayed with it and the bullpen was great again and everybody had big at-bats," said Kennedy. "I think that's my second hit off [Rivera] ever and my other one was just the same. It's not easy."

The Yankees left runners in scoring position in the 10th and 11th innings and lost for the third time in five games.

"It's frustrating," New York manager Joe Girardi said. "We had leads in both of the games (in this series), that's the frustrating part, and we weren't able to hold them. We gave free baserunners and it hurt us."

David Pauley (4-0) picked up the win for Seattle after pitching the last two innings. Hernandez had given up four runs and walked five batters in seven innings.

Getting the call for the Mariners today will be lefty Jason Vargas, who is coming off a horrible effort his last time out. After allowing one run in his previous three starts spanning 23 2/3 innings, Vargas was hit hard by the Minnesota Twins on Monday for five runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings. However, his offense bailed him out and spared him a decision in his team's 8-7 win.

"I didn't have as good of command this game," said Vargas, who is 3-2 with a 3.86 ERA. "I started getting behind hitters and they took advantage. You can't win 'em all, but it's great that we came back. It shows our resilience and how bad we want to win and how bad we want to stay in this thing."

Vargas is 0-1 in four games (three starts) against the Yankees with a 3.86 ERA.

New York won six of 10 meetings with Seattle a year ago, with a 3-1 record in games played at Safeco Field.