By Bob Sherwin / Special to MLB.com SEATTLE -- The Yankees finished the first half with the best record in baseball after an 8-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Sunday. The Yankees (56-32) are on pace for 103 victories. So what? Like that means anything to Derek Jeter. "The worst phrase in sports is 'on pace for,'" said Jeter, who contributed a two-run double in the fourth. "We're trying to get better every day. We have a lot of room for improvement. We've been inconsistency at times. The main consistency has been our pitchers. "There's a lot of guys who can get better." Jeter understands where things stand. Despite their glossy record, three starters with at least 11 victories and Mariano Rivera converting 20 of 22 save opportunities, the Yankees have just a two-game lead over Tampa Bay and five on Boston. "We know we're in a dog fight. If don't win 95-plus games, we're probably not making the playoffs because, arguably, we have the three best teams in our division," said Mark Teixeira, who had four hits, including two doubles and two runs scored. "We have a lot of work to do to win 95 to 100-plus games. "We're in a great division with some really good teams trying to catch us. All it takes is one bad week and we could be in second or third place." What has kept the Yankees on top has been their starters, led by ace CC Sabathia. He became just the sixth Yankees pitcher to earn at least 12 victories before the All-Star break with his seven-inning outing against Seattle. Sabathia (12-3), one of eight Yankees players selected to play in Tuesday's All-Star Game in Anaheim, allowed one run on six hits. He has yielded one run or less in each of his past five starts for a 0.93 ERA. Marcus Thames chipped in a two-run home run in the fifth. The Yankees were aided by collateral cooperation from the Mariners, who had three wild pitches, two errors and allowed two doubles in which outfielders couldn't locate popups in the sun. Those contributed to six of the Yankees' eight runs. Sabathia is the first to win at least 12 since Mike Mussina (12-3) in 2002. The others to have done it are Jimmy Key (13-2 in 1994), Andy Pettitte (13-4 in 1996), David Cone (12-2 in 1998) and Roger Clemens (12-1 in 2001). Sabathia also is the first Yankees pitcher to win eight straight starts since Clemens, from May 26 to July 4, 2001. He has not lost since May 23 against the Mets. "We're just trying do our job," Sabathia said. "We all feed off each other. We have a pretty good staff." Sabathia is joined by Pettitte (11-2) and Phil Hughes (11-2) as the first trio to have at least 11 wins at the break since the 1971 Orioles. "It all starts with our starting pitching," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "When you have good starting pitching, you have a chance to win every win. "We had some bumps along the way. Guys had months when they struggled but it seemed like two guys didn't struggle at the same time. We had guy do it but the other four would pick up the slack." All the slack, it seems, has been picked up. It's a mighty tight unit. During this seven-game road trip, Yankees starters are 6-0 with a 1.24 ERA. The uneven tone for the Mariners was set in the first inning when Nick Swisher reached on a one-out error by third baseman Jose Lopez. Teixeira singled, then Alex Rodriguez reached on an error by second baseman Chone Figgins. Robinson Cano followed with a sac fly to right, and Jorge Posada had a run-scoring single to center. "He's had three good starts in a row, and to have to get five outs to start this ballgame against that lineup, if you make mistakes against them, they're going to make you pay," Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said. In the second, Teixeira received a gift double when left-fielder Michael Saunders lost his high fly ball in the sun. He alertly advanced to third on a popout by Rodriguez and scored on a wild pitch. It just continued in the fourth. Thames singled to left but Lopez appeared in position but it took a high hop over his left shoulder. The door flew open. A walk, two wild pitches and a two-run double by Jeter and a RBI double by Teixeira produced three more runs and a 6-0 lead. The Yankees earned two more in the fifth without Mariners assistance, outside of a Brian Sweeney grooved fastball to Thames, who hit the left-field foul pole for a two-run home run. Sabathia allowed a RBI single by Chone Figgins in the sixth. Casey Kotchman hit a two-out home run off Dustin Moseley in the ninth. "It's a good first half. I said all along I think we can improve as well," Girardi added. "I'm extremely grateful that the guys didn't start the break early."
