Buhner Carries M’S Over Yankees, 6-5 Three-Run Hr, Two Defensive Gems The Difference In Seattle Victory

Maybe if the Yankees knew what they know now, they might not have traded Jay Buhner.

“I like playing here,” said Buhner, whose three-run homer capped a four-run fifth inning that carried the Seattle Mariners to a 6-5 victory over New York on Tuesday night.

Buhner’s homer was his 27th of the season, matching his career-high, and his 17th against the Yankees, 12 of them at Yankee Stadium.

“The dimensions aren’t good, but it’s a great place to hit. You see the ball well,” Buhner said.

Buhner also made two fine defensive plays, saving the Mariners at least one and possibly two runs. He cut off Paul O’Neill’s double in the third inning with Bernie Williams on first base before it went through to the right-field wall. When Mariners starter Bob Wolcott (3-1) struck out Ruben Sierra, Williams was stranded at third and the Yankees didn’t score in the inning.

“I liked the play in the corner,” the right fielder said. “It ended up a big play in the game. They were going to get the momentum.”

New York, which dropped 2-1/2 games behind Kansas City in the A.L. wild card race, outhit the Mariners 12-8 but stranded 12 runners for the third time in four games.

“I told each reliever when they came in if they could hold them right there, we’d get back in it and we did,” said Yankees manager Buck Showalter.

Seattle built a 6-0 lead before the Yankees began a comeback against Wolcott, who was making only his fifth major-league start.

Mike Stanley’s sacrifice fly cut the lead to 6-4 in the seventh, and the Yankees loaded the bases when reliever Jeff Nelson hit Tony Fernandez with a pitch. Nelson got out of the jam by striking out Randy Velarde.

In the ninth, the Yankees closed within a run on Don Mattingly’s sixth homer. But Norm Charlton, the fifth Seattle pitcher, got two outs for his sixth save.

Yankees starter Mariano Rivera (5-3) lasted just 4-1/3 innings and gave up two home runs - Luis Sojo’s fifth and Ken Griffey’s 11th. Both came in the third inning and put the Mariners up 2-0