Rodriguez’s homer trips up Mariners

NEW YORK — Alex Rodriguez hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning and CC Sabathia won his sixth straight start, leading the New York Yankees past the Seattle Mariners 4-2 on Thursday to avoid a three-game sweep. Robinson Cano added a solo shot for the Yankees, shut down by Seattle co-aces Cliff Lee and Felix Hernandez the previous two nights. Lee and Hernandez each went the distance, marking the first time two visiting pitchers had consecutive complete-game wins at Yankee Stadium since May 1991, when Mark Langston and Jim Abbott did it for the California Angels. New York’s bats didn’t exactly break loose against Ryan Rowland-Smith, but this time it was the Yankees who got the exquisite pitching performance. Sabathia (10-3) took a three-hit shutout into the eighth before a leadoff walk and an untimely passed ball by catcher Jorge Posada led to Russell Branyan’s two-run single that tied it at 2. Branyan was thrown out trying to reach second on the relay, ending the inning. Mark Teixeira singled off closer David Aardsma (0-5) with one out in the bottom half and Rodriguez drove a high fastball to the opposite field, about three rows beyond the short porch in right. It was the 595th career home run for Rodriguez, who raised his right arm in celebration as he rounded first base. Mariano Rivera worked a perfect ninth for his 18th save in 19 chances. Switch-hitter Milton Bradley batted from the right side against the All-Star closer, trying to neutralize Rivera’s hallmark cutter, but flied out to deep right for the first out of the inning. Sabathia yielded two runs — one earned — and five hits in eight innings, improving to 11-0 with a 2.03 ERA in his last 15 starts at home since last year’s All-Star break. It’s the longest active winning streak of its kind in the majors. The Yankees have totaled 10 runs in Sabathia’s past three outings, but the big left-hander has been dominant enough to win them all. He pitched around Bradley’s leadoff double in the second and just about cruised into the eighth, when he waited to warm up while the grounds crew groomed the mound. Josh Bard drew a leadoff walk and Ichiro Suzuki singled with one out. After Chone Figgins popped out, Posada let a breaking ball to Branyan glance off his mitt, allowing both runners to advance. Branyan then hit a line drive to right field on Sabathia’s 117th and final pitch, a season high. Rivera sealed Seattle’s fourth loss in 13 games. The punchless Mariners, who have scored the fewest runs in the American League, fell short of their first three-game road sweep since April 10-12, 2009, at Oakland. The last time they swept three games at Yankee Stadium was May 3-5, 2002. No visiting team has pulled off a three-game sweep at the new Yankee Stadium, now in its second season. New York improved to 15-2 following shutout losses since the start of the 2008 season. Derek Jeter opened the first with an infield single off Rowland-Smith’s foot. He went to third on Nick Swisher’s double and scored on a groundout by Teixeira. Cano connected for his 16th home run in the fourth, immediately after Rodriguez grounded into a double play.