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Yanks slide by M’s

New York's Melky Cabrera scores in the second inning as Mariners catcher Kenji Johjima waits for the late throw. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Mike Fitzpatrick Associated Press
New York's Melky Cabrera scores in the second inning as Mariners catcher Kenji Johjima waits for the late throw. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

NEW YORK – The New York Yankees are riding Mariano Rivera’s right arm during an impressive winning streak.

Now, they’re hoping for good news about Alex Rodriguez’s big toe.

Rivera wriggled out of another jam for his 401st save, Jason Giambi homered and Chien-Ming Wang pitched around some sloppy defense to lead the surging Yankees past the Seattle Mariners 4-2 Monday night.

Coming off a sweep of the World Series champion Chicago White Sox, New York won its fourth straight and eighth in nine games to move a season-best 18 games above .500.

Johnny Damon had three hits and an RBI, Miguel Cairo hit a two-run single and the Yankees remained a half-game behind first-place Boston in the A.L. East.

After making a career-worst three errors, Rodriguez was lifted in the eighth inning because of a sore left big toe. The star third baseman fouled a ball off his toe in the fifth and plans to go for X-rays this morning.

Following consecutive extra-inning losses in Toronto, the Mariners got a solid start from fast-working Jarrod Washburn (4-10) but couldn’t capitalize on four errors overall by the Yankees in the first meeting between the teams this season.

“We had our chances,” Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said. “We made three errors and they scored three runs off one of them. They made four errors and we scored one run off them. All their runs came with two outs. We just didn’t get the big hit.”

Rivera gave up a double and a single to start the ninth, putting runners at the corners. Then he struck out pinch-hitter Eduardo Perez, got Ichiro Suzuki on a popup and fanned Willie Bloomquist to draw a roar from the sellout crowd of 53,444.

Wang allowed two runs and seven hits over seven strong innings in 93-degree heat, improving to 7-1 in 11 starts at home. Just like Wang, Washburn didn’t get much help from his defense. The Seattle starter yielded four runs – one earned – and nine hits in 6 1/3 innings.

He dropped to 0-3 in six starts since his last win, a 4-1 victory over his former team, the Los Angeles Angels, on June 9. But the lefty has pitched well in his past three outings, allowing only four earned runs in 19 1/3 innings.

“It seems I’ve had a lot of these this year where you don’t give up very many runs, but you don’t win, either,” Washburn said. “But what concerns me is that the team is losing. I don’t worry too much about my record, but it’s depressing if the team is losing these games.”

Kenji Johjima hit an RBI single in the sixth for the Mariners, but Yuniesky Betancourt grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Suzuki singled on the first pitch of the game and scored on Raul Ibanez’s sacrifice fly.