evanreyes
04-29-2002, 01:46 AM
SEATTLE (AP) -- In their first trip West this season, the New York Yankees repeated their success from last year's playoffs.
Rookie Nick Johnson's two-out RBI double in the ninth inning broke a tie and gave the Yankees a 4-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Sunday.
New York won two of three in Seattle to complete a 4-2 trip that began in Oakland. The Yankees beat the Athletics and Mariners in the past two postseasons en route to winning four straight AL pennants.
"These are the clubs that have played well over the last couple of years. So that's how you measure yourself," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "They measure themselves against us and we do the same thing against them."
The Yankees bounced back after losing a heartbreaker on a one-hitter Saturday night, when Desi Relaford's eighth-inning RBI single spoiled young left-hander Ted Lilly's no-hit bid for a 1-0 Mariners' victory.
"It's great to win ball games," Johnson said. "This is a pretty good team. It's great to keep winning games."
Orlando Hernandez and three relievers limited the Mariners to five hits. Mariano Rivera hit a batter and walked another with one out in the ninth before striking out pinch-hitter Ichiro Suzuki and retiring Mark McLemore on a groundout for his eighth save in 10 chances.
The Yankees held the Mariners to five runs and a .140 (12-for-86) batting average in the three games. Seattle came in as the No. 2 hitting team in the AL at .300. The Yankees lead the AL with a 3.45 ERA.
"We need to get a few guys started," Mariners manager Lou Piniella said.
With the score tied at 3, Jorge Posada led off the ninth by drawing a walk against Arthur Rhodes (1-1) and was sacrificed to second by Ron Coomer. Ex-Yankee Jeff Nelson came in and threw a wild pitch that moved Posada to third.
With the infield in, Rondell White hit a popup to shallow right that rookie second baseman Luis Ugueto caught with an outstanding back-to-the-infield catch.
Johnson followed with an opposite-field double off the left-field wall on a 3-1 pitch to score the go-ahead run.
"It's awesome," said Johnson, who snapped out of a 2-for-24 slump. "I haven't been swinging the bat too good. To get a hit to put us ahead feels great."
Steve Karsay (1-0) got Bret Boone to ground out with a runner at third in the bottom of the eighth for the win.
Rhodes had a 10-game regular season winning streak broken, the longest ever by a Mariners' reliever. It was his first defeat since Oakland beat him 8-2 on Sept. 23, 2000.
The Mariners had tied the score at 3 in the sixth on Ruben Sierra's RBI single and John Olerud's sacrifice fly. Jason Giambi gave the Yankees a 3-1 lead with a two-run double in the top of the inning.
Giambi was 8-for-25 (.320) with three doubles and five RBI on the Yankees' roadtrip, raising his average to .277.
"Now, I'm letting the ball get to me and hitting line drives to left and left-center," said Giambi, who signed a $120 million deal with the Yankees in the offseason. "So things are definitely starting to come around."
Alfonso Soriano led off the game for the Yankees with his fifth homer of the season on an 0-2 pitch from Jamie Moyer, Soriano's third leadoff homer of the season.
In the bottom half, Sierra hit a fly ball to left field that went off White's glove after he lost the ball in the sun. It was ruled a double. Olerud then hit an RBI single to tie the score.
Hernandez, whose league-leading ERA rose from 1.24 to 1.75, gave up three runs, four hits and four walks in seven innings.
Moyer allowed three runs, six hits and three walks in seven innings.
Bret Boone, who hit .331 with 37 homers and 141 RBI last season, was 0-for-4 Sunday and 0-for-10 in the series.
"I'm overanxious," he said. "I've haven't swung good in the last two weeks. Especially today. I stunk."
Notes: Yankees 3B Robin Ventura left in the second inning after colliding with Mariners SS Carlos Guillen while attempting to break up a double play. Ventura has a sore jaw and a bruised neck. Ventura, who was still groggy after the game, said he thought he was knocked out. "It's just all kind of foggy," he said. "The last thing I remember going into second was that I thought I was going to be safe." ... Ugueto, who made the Mariners' roster after being selected from Florida in the winter-meeting draft, made his first career start. Ugueto, who scored in Seattle's win Saturday night, played second in place of Boone, who was the DH.
Rookie Nick Johnson's two-out RBI double in the ninth inning broke a tie and gave the Yankees a 4-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Sunday.
New York won two of three in Seattle to complete a 4-2 trip that began in Oakland. The Yankees beat the Athletics and Mariners in the past two postseasons en route to winning four straight AL pennants.
"These are the clubs that have played well over the last couple of years. So that's how you measure yourself," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "They measure themselves against us and we do the same thing against them."
The Yankees bounced back after losing a heartbreaker on a one-hitter Saturday night, when Desi Relaford's eighth-inning RBI single spoiled young left-hander Ted Lilly's no-hit bid for a 1-0 Mariners' victory.
"It's great to win ball games," Johnson said. "This is a pretty good team. It's great to keep winning games."
Orlando Hernandez and three relievers limited the Mariners to five hits. Mariano Rivera hit a batter and walked another with one out in the ninth before striking out pinch-hitter Ichiro Suzuki and retiring Mark McLemore on a groundout for his eighth save in 10 chances.
The Yankees held the Mariners to five runs and a .140 (12-for-86) batting average in the three games. Seattle came in as the No. 2 hitting team in the AL at .300. The Yankees lead the AL with a 3.45 ERA.
"We need to get a few guys started," Mariners manager Lou Piniella said.
With the score tied at 3, Jorge Posada led off the ninth by drawing a walk against Arthur Rhodes (1-1) and was sacrificed to second by Ron Coomer. Ex-Yankee Jeff Nelson came in and threw a wild pitch that moved Posada to third.
With the infield in, Rondell White hit a popup to shallow right that rookie second baseman Luis Ugueto caught with an outstanding back-to-the-infield catch.
Johnson followed with an opposite-field double off the left-field wall on a 3-1 pitch to score the go-ahead run.
"It's awesome," said Johnson, who snapped out of a 2-for-24 slump. "I haven't been swinging the bat too good. To get a hit to put us ahead feels great."
Steve Karsay (1-0) got Bret Boone to ground out with a runner at third in the bottom of the eighth for the win.
Rhodes had a 10-game regular season winning streak broken, the longest ever by a Mariners' reliever. It was his first defeat since Oakland beat him 8-2 on Sept. 23, 2000.
The Mariners had tied the score at 3 in the sixth on Ruben Sierra's RBI single and John Olerud's sacrifice fly. Jason Giambi gave the Yankees a 3-1 lead with a two-run double in the top of the inning.
Giambi was 8-for-25 (.320) with three doubles and five RBI on the Yankees' roadtrip, raising his average to .277.
"Now, I'm letting the ball get to me and hitting line drives to left and left-center," said Giambi, who signed a $120 million deal with the Yankees in the offseason. "So things are definitely starting to come around."
Alfonso Soriano led off the game for the Yankees with his fifth homer of the season on an 0-2 pitch from Jamie Moyer, Soriano's third leadoff homer of the season.
In the bottom half, Sierra hit a fly ball to left field that went off White's glove after he lost the ball in the sun. It was ruled a double. Olerud then hit an RBI single to tie the score.
Hernandez, whose league-leading ERA rose from 1.24 to 1.75, gave up three runs, four hits and four walks in seven innings.
Moyer allowed three runs, six hits and three walks in seven innings.
Bret Boone, who hit .331 with 37 homers and 141 RBI last season, was 0-for-4 Sunday and 0-for-10 in the series.
"I'm overanxious," he said. "I've haven't swung good in the last two weeks. Especially today. I stunk."
Notes: Yankees 3B Robin Ventura left in the second inning after colliding with Mariners SS Carlos Guillen while attempting to break up a double play. Ventura has a sore jaw and a bruised neck. Ventura, who was still groggy after the game, said he thought he was knocked out. "It's just all kind of foggy," he said. "The last thing I remember going into second was that I thought I was going to be safe." ... Ugueto, who made the Mariners' roster after being selected from Florida in the winter-meeting draft, made his first career start. Ugueto, who scored in Seattle's win Saturday night, played second in place of Boone, who was the DH.