GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: AL: SEATTLE (74-63) at NY YANKEES (77-62)

AL: SEATTLE at NY YANKEES

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SEATTLE (2) AT NY YANKEES (10) - EVENT LOG
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Seattle Starting Lineups -- I Suzuki CF, J Vidro DH, J Guillen RF, R Ibanez LF,
A Beltre 3B, B Broussard 1B, K Johjima C, J Lopez 2B, Y Betancourt SS,
J Washburn LHP.

Ny Yankees Starting Lineups -- J Damon LF, M Cabrera CF, D Jeter SS,
A Rodriguez DH, R Cano 2B, S Duncan RF, J Giambi 1B, W Betemit 3B, J Molina C,
P Hughes RHP.

Umpires -- Larry Vanover (HP), Tony Randazzo (1B), Gerry Davis (2B),
Greg Gibson (3B).

Gametime Weather: 74 degrees, Partly Cloudy, wind out to right at 3 mph.


SEATTLE 1ST: I Suzuki grounded out to second. J Vidro flied out to right.
J Guillen hit by pitch. R Ibanez walked, J Guillen to second. A Beltre struck
out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 0, NY YANKEES 0.

NY YANKEES 1ST: J Damon flied out to right. M Cabrera bunt grounded out to
third. D Jeter struck out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 0,
NY YANKEES 0.

SEATTLE 2ND: B Broussard struck out swinging. K Johjima walked. J Lopez
grounded into fielder's choice to third, K Johjima out at second. Y Betancourt
flied out to left. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 0, NY YANKEES 0.

NY YANKEES 2ND: A Rodriguez walked. R Cano fouled out to third. S Duncan
struck out looking. J Giambi grounded into fielder's choice to second,
A Rodriguez out at second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 0, NY YANKEES 0.

SEATTLE 3RD: I Suzuki singled to deep right. I Suzuki caught stealing
second, catcher to shortstop. J Vidro struck out swinging. J Guillen singled
to left. R Ibanez homered to right, J Guillen scored. A Beltre struck out
swinging. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 2, NY YANKEES 0.

NY YANKEES 3RD: W Betemit flied out to right. J Molina homered to left.
J Damon struck out swinging. M Cabrera popped out to shortstop. (1 Run, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) SEATTLE 2, NY YANKEES 1.

SEATTLE 4TH: B Broussard doubled to deep center. K Johjima grounded out to
first, B Broussard to third. J Lopez struck out swinging. Y Betancourt popped
out to first. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 2, NY YANKEES 1.

NY YANKEES 4TH: D Jeter grounded out to second. A Rodriguez popped out to
shortstop. R Cano lined out to right. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 2,
NY YANKEES 1.

SEATTLE 5TH: I Suzuki grounded out to shortstop. J Vidro grounded out to
third. J Guillen grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 2,
NY YANKEES 1.

NY YANKEES 5TH: S Duncan popped out to second. J Giambi popped out to
second. W Betemit flied out to left. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 2,
NY YANKEES 1.

SEATTLE 6TH: R Ibanez singled to deep right, R Ibanez out stretching at
second. A Beltre flied out to center. B Broussard struck out swinging.
(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 2, NY YANKEES 1.

NY YANKEES 6TH: J Molina singled to deep left center, J Molina to second on
error by second baseman J Lopez. J Damon sacrificed to pitcher, J Molina to
third. M Cabrera struck out swinging. D Jeter grounded out to third. (0 Runs,
1 Hit, 1 Error) SEATTLE 2, NY YANKEES 1.

SEATTLE 7TH: J Chamberlain relieved P Hughes. K Johjima flied out to
center. J Lopez grounded out to shortstop. Y Betancourt popped out to second.
(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 2, NY YANKEES 1.

NY YANKEES 7TH: A Rodriguez homered to left. R Cano safe at first on error
by second baseman J Lopez. G Sherrill relieved J Washburn. S Duncan sacrificed
to pitcher, R Cano to second. J Giambi walked. W Betemit walked, R Cano to
third, J Giambi to second. J Posada hit for J Molina. B Abreu ran for
J Giambi. S Green relieved G Sherrill. J Posada walked, R Cano scored, B Abreu to
third, W Betemit to second. E O'Flaherty relieved S Green. J Damon grounded
into fielder's choice to second, B Abreu scored, J Posada out at second,
W Betemit to third. M Cabrera singled to right, W Betemit scored, J Damon to
third. B Morrow relieved E O'Flaherty. D Jeter doubled to deep right center,
J Damon and M Cabrera scored, D Jeter to third advancing on throw. A Rodriguez
homered to left, D Jeter scored. R Cano walked. R White relieved B Morrow.
S Duncan grounded out to third. (8 Runs, 4 Hits, 1 Error) SEATTLE 2, NY YANKEES 9.

SEATTLE 8TH: D Mientkiewicz at first base. B Abreu in right field. J Posada
catching. E Ramirez relieved J Chamberlain. I Suzuki grounded out to second.
J Vidro grounded out to second. J Guillen struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits,
0 Errors) SEATTLE 2, NY YANKEES 9.

NY YANKEES 8TH: B Abreu doubled to deep right. W Betemit grounded out to
second, B Abreu to third. Seattle's R White ejected by L Vanover in the 8th.
J Parrish relieved R White. B Abreu scored on J Parrish's wild pitch. J Posada
walked. J Damon grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, J Posada out at
second. M Cabrera grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, J Damon out at
second. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 2, NY YANKEES 10.

SEATTLE 9TH: A Gonzalez at shortstop. M Rivera relieved E Ramirez. R Ibanez
struck out swinging. A Beltre safe at first on error by third baseman
W Betemit. B Broussard grounded into double play, second to shortstop to first,
A Beltre out at second.(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 1 Error) SEATTLE 2, NY YANKEES 10.</div>

 

Rodriguez homers twice as Yankees rout Mariners

<h3>NY YANKEES 10, SEATTLE 2</h3>By Larry Fleisher
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- Alex Rodriguez's ankle may havebeen barking, but it apparently did not affect his ability tohit home runs.


Rodriguez sparked an eight-run seventh-inning comeback with twoblasts in the frame as the New York Yankees padded their cushionin the wild card race with a 10-2 victory over the SeattleMariners on Wednesday night.


The Yankees (78-62) lead the Mariners (74-64) by three games inthe wild card standings.


"There's not much time left (in the season)," Rodriguez said."I guarantee you that if this was April or May I probably wouldhave taken the day, no question. But every game is soimportant."


Rodriguez injured his right ankle in a collision with Seattlethird baseman Adrian Beltre on Tuesday and had a limp thatconcerned the Yankees enough to send him for an MRI. Theresults of the tests were not available for his first two plateappearances but, in a strange coincidence, were announced in theseventh.


Moments after it was revealed that Rodriguez had a sprained andbruised right ankle, he sent a 3-2 pitch from Jarrod Washburn(7-13) over the left-center field fence. It was his 47th homerun of the season, one shy of his total from the 2005 season andfollowing his blast, the Yankees started their rally.

"Tying the game in that situation was almost like getting aone-run lead," Rodriguez said. "Simply because our bullpensituation favored us and being at home."


"When he does things like he did tonight and last night, it'scertainly hard to ignore," New York manager Joe Torre said."Last night, we had a couple of guys with great days andeverybody talks about the home run Alex hits."


In the original lineup, Rodriguez was the starting thirdbaseman. But at 5:15 his usual routine was interupted when hewent for his MRI at nearby Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital.

When he returned, Rodriguez determined he was unable to play thefield. And after the game, he estimated he was feeling about60 percent.


Rodriguez is also unsure if he can play third in the seriesopener at Kansas City Friday, but considering the nature of thegame, he was not going to miss Wednesday's contest.

"Coming back from the hospital, I felt like I was probablyalmost a 75-percent chance I wasn't going to play because I gothere an hour before the game, 55 minutes before the game,"Rodriguez said. "I said I definitely couldn't play the field.I kind of put it to (Torre), he put it back on me and then wentout and did a couple of zig zags (running exercises) with Geno(trainer Gene Monahan) and gave it a shot."


"I felt we could take out him of the game, DHing is like pinchhitting him four or five times," Torre said. "It's something wecan at least keep track of."


After Rodriguez's first blast, Robinson Cano kept it going whenhe reached on an error by second baseman Jose Lopez. Thatchased Washburn and the Mariners brought in lefthander GeorgeSherrill, who issued consecutive one-out walks to Jason Giambiand Wilson Betemit that loaded the bases.


After Jorge Posada was announced as a pinch hitter for JoseMolina, the Mariners brought in Sean Green. Like Sherrill,Green was unable to throw strikes, walking Posada on fivepitches.


Green was replaced by Eric O'Flaherty, who recorded the secondout but gave up two more runs. Johnny Damon beat out apotential double-play grounder and ran on contact on MelkyCabrera's RBI single into right field - easily getting to third.

The Yankees were hardly finished as Derek Jeter hit a two-rundouble against Brandan Morrow. That brought up Rodriguez, whoequaled his home run total from two years ago when he sentMorrow's 2-1 offering into the left field seats.


It was his seventh multi-homer game of the season, 51st of hiscareer. Rodriguez also hit his 512th career home run, tyingEddie Matthews and Ernie Banks for 17th on the all-time list.

Rodriguez also hit two home runs in the same inning for thefirst time in his career. He became the first Yankee toaccomplish the feat since Cliff Johnson did it in the eighthinning at Toronto on June 30, 1977.


Besides tying Banks and Matthews, Rodriguez also moved past MelOtt on the all-time list and became the third player this seasonto hit two home runs in an inning. The others were Detroit'sMagglio Ordonez and San Francisco's Bengie Molina.

"I can't relate to it," Jeter said of Rodriguez's monsterseason. "It's unbelievable. I haven't seen anything like it inall my years playing. It's not that easy."


After dropping the series opener, the Yankees tagged Seattle'sbullpen for 15 runs and 15 hits over the final two games. TheYankees did that despite the Mariners having an 11-man bullpendue to September callups.


"We check with them everyday," Seattle manager John McLarensaid. "On the sheet today was one of the few times that we hadeveryone available. So we just need to do a better job ofthrowing strikes."


The 32-minute inning made a winner out of rookie JobaChamberlain, (1-0) who tossed a perfect seventh for his firstcareer victory.


Chamberlain's first appearance in six days came after fellowrookie Phil Hughes allowed two runs and five hits in sixinnings. He struck out six and walked two and threw 97 pitchesin what may have been his finest outing since returning from thedisabled list a month ago.


"It's one thing to be aggressive with your fastball, (but) youalso need a curve," Hughes said. "I was aggressive with myfastball, but I also threw some good changeups, good curveballsand good sliders."


Raul Ibanez drove in both runs for the Mariners with a two-runhome run in the third and Washburn made it stand up until theseventh.


He gave up a solo home run to Molina in the third and a doubleto Molina in the sixth. The 32-year-old lefthander came in withthe lowest ERA against the Yankees among any active pitcherwith at least 65 innings.


He also worked out of trouble in the sixth when he strandedMolina at third and was one strike away from retiring Rodriguez.But the home run and the second error by Lopez opened thefloodgates.


"I gave us a chance to win," Washburn said. "It's a powerfuloffense - the best in the game. It's a tough one for us."

"It was a big game for us and we didn't get it done," McLarensaid.


Seattle lost for the 10th time in 11 games and also had a pairof calls go against them involving superstar Ichiro Suzuki.

Ichiro was called out trying to steal second in the third butreplays showed Jeter missed the tag and was called out in thefifth although replays appeared to show that he beat Betemit'sthrow from third by a step.


Chamberlain, who had been idle since Thursday due to a two-gamesuspension for throwing at Boston's Kevin Youkilis, easilyretired the side in the seventh. Edwar Ramirez hurled theeighth and Mariano Rivera pitched the ninth in a non-savesituation to finish the game.