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NEW YORK(AP) When he finally connected,
Russell Branyan
made it count.
Branyan rebounded from a frustrating string of strikeouts with a mammoth homer over Monument Park, and the
Seattle Mariners
beat CC Sabathia 8-4 on Thursday night to snap the
New York Yankees
' seven-game winning streak.
''Majestic,'' Mariners manager
Don Wakamatsu
said.
Franklin Gutierrez
also homered and
Ichiro Suzuki
hit a two-run double that was misplayed by center fielder
Melky Cabrera
.
Chris Woodward
added two RBIs as Seattle won in the Bronx for the first time since Sept. 3, 2007, ending a 10-game road losing streak against
the Yankees.
''Our guys are learning how to win,'' reliever
Miguel Batista
said.
Branyan launched his 20th homer in the ninth inning, a two-run shot off right-hander
Alfredo Aceves
that made it 8-4. It was the first drive at the new Yankee Stadium to carom off the tinted-glass windows of the big sports
bar in straightaway center, above Monument Park.
It also ended a rough stretch for Branyan, who struck out seven straight times in two nights - all against lefties - before
drawing a walk from Sabathia in the sixth.
''I know it's just a matter of time before I come out of something like that,'' Branyan said. ''In the grand scheme of things,
it's just two days. If I can limit my bad at-bats to two days, I'll take it.''
Seattle avoided a three-game sweep and handed Sabathia (7-5) his second loss in 11 starts.
''It was frustrating just because we were playing so well,'' Sabathia said. ''It was just one of those days when I left some
pitches up.''
Gutierrez had three hits for the third time in five games. Five of his eight homers have come in the past 15 games.
Batista (5-2) pitched two hitless innings to win in relief of ill starter
Jason Vargas
, who lasted four innings with flu symptoms. Wakamatsu appreciated the effort. He said Vargas was vomiting until about 3 a.m.
Thursday.
Mark Lowe
worked two scoreless innings before
David Aardsma
finished. Seattle's bullpen yielded three hits in five scoreless innings.
''A lot of unsung heroes today,'' Wakamatsu said.
Hideki Matsui
homered and drove in three runs for New York, while
Robinson Cano
had three hits.
The first pitch was delayed 36 minutes due to threatening storms, though they never brought rain. Sabathia entered 6-1 with
a 2.82 ERA in his previous 10 outings, but he struggled right from the start.
Suzuki opened the game with a line-drive double off
Mark Teixeira
's glove at first base. He stole third and scored on
Jose Lopez
's soft groundout between the mound and first.
It marked the first time the Yankees trailed since the top of the sixth inning June 24 in Atlanta.
Seattle began the second with three well-struck hits off Sabathia, including Gutierrez's leadoff homer. Woodward, subbing
for injured third baseman
Adrian Beltre
, had a sacrifice fly.
Nick Swisher
and Matsui hit sacrifice flies in the bottom half, cutting it to 3-2. Suzuki dropped Matsui's waist-high liner toward the
right-field line, the third error this season for a player who has won eight consecutive Gold Gloves since arriving from Japan.
Moments later, as Suzuki lined up an inning-ending flyout, screaming fans tried to rattle him. After making the catch, Suzuki
faked flipping the ball into the stands, drawing boos from the crowd of 46,142.
Woodward hit an RBI single in the fourth and Suzuki's double over Cabrera's head made it 6-2. Cabrera got a bad jump on the
ball and it appeared he didn't realize how deep it was hit until it was too late.
''It looked like Melky kind of broke in on that ball,'' Yankees manager
Joe Girardi
said. ''When you're playing so well, you're surprised when you're not so crisp.''
Matsui's two-run homer in the bottom half trimmed it to 6-4.
Sabathia was pulled with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth. He allowed six runs and 10 hits, striking out eight.
NOTES: Teixeira made a throwing error in the ninth, his first in 107 games since Aug. 19, 2008, with the
Los Angeles Angels
. ... The Mariners rested DH-OF Ken Griffey Jr.
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