Mariners pound Yankees
SEATTLE – Shawn Chacon put the New York Yankees into too much of a hole to climb out.
Ichiro Suzuki hit a three-run homer in a five-run second inning, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Yankees 8-3 Tuesday night.
New York, 1-1 on a seven-game trip, dropped 2 1/2 games behind the Boston Red Sox in the American League East. The Yankees, who overcame a four-run deficit against the last-place Mariners in Monday’s 7-4 win, lead Cleveland by half-game in the wild-card race and are one game in front of the Los Angeles Angels.
Before the game, the Yankees learned Mike Mussina will miss at least one start because of slight inflammation on the inside of his pitching elbow, becoming the fifth and final member of the New York Yankees’ original starting rotation to get hurt this year.
Chacon (3-2), one of the pitchers imported by the Yankees to patch their rotation, had his worst start with New York, allowing eight runs, eight hits and four walks in six innings. He also hit two batters and threw a run-scoring wild pitch as his ERA with the Yankees rose from 1.80 to 3.13.
Jeff Harris (2-1) allowed three runs, six hits and five walks in 6 1/3 innings, stopping the Yankees’ five-game winning streak. The 31-year-old rookie, signed by Seattle as a minor league free agent in December, made his third major league start and picked up his second career win.
Alex Rodriguez hit his A.L.-leading 40th homer and joined Joe DiMaggio as the only right-handed hitters to reach 40 homers with the Yankees. DiMaggio hit 46 in 1937.
Rodriguez reached 40 for the seventh time in eight seasons and has 25 homers against Seattle, his original team, including four this season. He played with a tight right groin and started at designated hitter for the first time this season.
Former Red Sox rival Mark Bellhorn, signed earlier in the day, took over at third base and went 0 for 4.
Richie Sexson scored the game’s first run with a headfirst slide on Chacon’s wild pitch. Yorvit Torrealba followed with an RBI grounder, and Suzuki homered for the second straight night and 15th time this season.
Jorge Posada singled in a run and Matt Lawton had an RBI groundout in the Yankees’ two-run third, but Jose Lopez hit a two-run double in the bottom half and scored on Yuniesky Betancourt’s double for an 8-2 lead.
Rodriguez homered leading off the fifth.
Notes
The Yankees’ Derek Jeter had his 1,900th career hit, a sixth-inning single. … Matt Lawton’s throwing error from right field in the third ended a string of nine errorless games and 90 errorless innings for the Yankees. … The only other major leaguers to hit 40 in seven seasons were Babe Ruth (11), Hank Aaron and Harmon Killebrew (eight) and Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr. and Sammy Sosa (seven). … New York’s Randy Johnson, who won his first of five Cy Young Awards with the Mariners in 1995, is scheduled to pitch for the Yankees tonight in only his second career start at Safeco Field. His first start was July 20, 1999, a complete-game shutout in a 6-0 Arizona win. He is scheduled to face Mariners 19-year-old rookie sensation Felix Hernandez.
Mariners’ moves
Seattle placed infielder Willie Bloomquist on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring and recalled infielder Jose Lopez from Triple-A Tacoma.
Bloomquist, 27, was injured in the fourth inning of Monday night’s loss to the Yankees when he tried to beat out a grounder.
In 73 games, he hit .257 with 15 doubles, two triples, 14 stolen bases and 22 RBIs.
The versatile Bloomquist has started 29 games at second base, 21 at shortstop and one at third base this season.
This is the second time Bloomquist has been on the disabled list in four seasons with the Mariners.
Lopez hit .315 with 29 runs, 19 doubles, five homers, two stolen bases and 31 RBIs with Tacoma.
This will be Lopez’s third stint with Seattle this season. He has hit .228 with nine runs, six doubles and eight RBIs in 23 games.