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It seemed like the offense would be the sole target of ire until the seventh when the pitching decided to fall apart.
Felix Hernandez and the Mariners popped into New York for the day to make up their rained out affair from earlier in the year. The Yankees countered by sending David Phelps to the mound. If you predicted that the Yankees would barely score any runs, congratulations. Obvious guess, but kudos.
The Mariners scored first in the top of the second. A leadoff triple by Kyle Seager set Seattle up nicely, and he scored on Mike Zunino's infield single. Phelps was able to keep the deficit at one until the fourth, when a really stupid thing happened. Seager led off the inning with a bloop into left that Brett Gardner made a sliding attempt on, but the ball popped out of his glove. Derek Jeter, thinking it was a foul ball, held onto it after it bounced up and hit him. It was live however, and Seager ran to third for a second triple while Jeter loafed about. He would score after Dustin Ackley hit into a fielder's choice. 2-0 Seattle.
The Yankees got on the board in the bottom of the fourth. A Brian McCann single was followed by a Yangervis Solarte double. Alfonso Soriano waved at three straight pitches, but Hernandez kicked an Ichiro Suzuki grounder which allowed both runners to score and tie up the game. Phelps was able to hold the Mariners at bay until the seventh, when the wheels fell off. The Mariners managed to load the bases with no one out when Phelps allowed a single to the weak hitting Brad Miller that plated two runs. After a James Jones sacrifice, Michael Saunders singled home two more runs to make the score 6-2 and chase Phelps from the game. And that was about all she wrote, as the Yankees failed to counterpunch after that inning. Saunders tacked on another run with a solo blast off Alfredo Aceces and Seager added yet another extra base hit with a three-run jack of his own to make it 10-2 for the Mariners just in case the game's final result was still left in doubt.
Phelps did his best to match one of the greatest pitchers in the game, but with the Yankees best relievers needing a rest there was no one to come to his aid when he was laboring in the seventh. His overall line will look ugly, but he was pretty solid overall.The game ended up being another cocktail of iffy defense, baserunning issues and general ineptitude on offense, so the pitching was far from the only glaring problem. Also, Aceves is still terrible and Soriano looks like he'd struggle hitting at Old Timer's Day.
The Yankees kick off a series with the mighty Oakland A's tomorrow at 7:05 PM. Scott Kazmir and Hiroki Kuroda are your probables.
