Mariners sneak past Yankees in 12 innings

SEATTLE – Adam Kennedy scored pinch-runner Luis Rodriguez with a bloop single off Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the 12th inning and the Seattle Mariners won for the ninth time in 10 games with a 5-4 victory over the New York Yankees on Saturday night.

Rivera (1-1) made career appearance No. 1,001 in the 12th inning. He got a broken-bat grounder from Chone Figgins to start before Justin Smoak blooped a single to left that Brett Gardner barely missed on a diving attempt. Jack Cust then dropped a double just inside the left-field line that advanced Smoak to third with the winning run and just one out.

Rodriguez replaced Smoak as a pinch-runner at third, and after Franklin Gutierrez was intentionally walked to load the bases, Kennedy dumped an 0-1 pitch in front of Curtis Granderson in center field to score Rodriguez.

David Pauley (4-0) worked two innings of relief to get the victory.

Seattle ace Felix Hernandez was in line to pick up the win before Ichiro Suzuki misjudged Curtis Granderson’s drive in the top of the seventh. Granderson’s hit went for a triple that scored Derek Jeter with the tying run.

It stayed tied into the 12th, even though both teams had chances in the late inning and in extras.

Seattle went to closer Brandon League to begin the 10th and he started with groundouts by Granderson and Mark Teixeira, before giving up consecutive singles by Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano to put runners at the corners with two outs. Russell Martin drove a 2-1 pitch to right-center field, but Suzuki was able to run it down to end the threat.

Nick Swisher singled with one out in the 11th off reliever David Pauley, who got the win in relief on Friday night. Swisher was replaced by pinch-runner Chris Dickerson and advanced to second when Brett Gardner hit a liner back to the mound that Pauley knocked down and threw to first in time.

Derek Jeter then stepped in but hit a weak grounder to short to end the inning.

That set the stage for the 12th, when Seattle handed Rivera his first loss since Sept. 11, 2010 against Texas. The Mariners are now in second-place in the A.L. West.

Cano and Teixeira both homered off Hernandez, who was the focus of this matchup with the Yankees. Hernandez had won his previous four starts against New York and was in line for a fifth straight before Granderson’s clutch hit in the seventh.

Miguel Olivo drove in three runs for the Mariners, including a two-run double in the fourth off Yankees’ starter Ivan Nova. Brendan Ryan also had an RBI single.

Hernandez made his first mistake by trying to sneak a 3-2 fastball past Cano leading off the second inning. The pitch tailed back over the middle of the plate and Cano lined it just over the fence in right field for his 10th homer of the season.

An inning later, the lead was 3-1 after another mistake to Teixeira. Jeter led off the third with a single, then got career steal No. 327 to pass Rickey Henderson for the most in Yankees history. Jeter was eventually thrown out in a rundown on Granderson’s groundball, but Teixeira came through. Again, Hernandez tried to use his fastball in a hitters count, but Teixeira didn’t miss on the 2-0 fastball, a 402-foot shot to deep right-center field.

It was Teixeira’s sixth homer in his last nine games.

Notes

A streaker leaped onto the field during the bottom of the eighth inning of the Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees game Saturday night. In all, four fans jumped out of the stands and had to be taken down by security. The streaker was completely naked except for a blue and white cap and appeared from near the Mariners dugout on the first base side. The man made his naked dash during a pitching change. He ran around the infield for a few moments before being tackled by security near shortstop. Security put a towel around the man, which fell as he kicked his feet while being taken off the field through an outfield gate. Two other fans ran on the field earlier in the game and were tackled and taken away by security. Another made a run before the ninth.