YANKEE NOTES

SEATTLE – David Wells’ love for music has enabled him to meet a lot of big names in the industry and he has grown close to some. One of them was Dave Williams, the lead singer of Drowning Pool, a Dallas heavy metal band.

Williams, who was Wells’ guest at Yankee Stadium on July 24 and played catch with Wells on the hallowed ground, was found dead earlier this week on Drowning Pool’s tour bus, and it bothered Wells.

“This game was for him,” Wells said after Friday night’s 9-3 victory over the Mariners, a win that hiked Wells’ record to 13-6. “He was a good friend. It was hard to take.”

Wells watched Williams run into an outfield wall at Yankee Stadium and asked him, ‘What are you doing?’ He replied, ‘I always wanted to run into a wall in Yankee Stadium.’ ”

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Utility infielder Alex Arias joined the Yankees in time for yesterday’s game and wore No. 17. To make room for Arias, who was promoted from Columbus (Triple-A) the Yankees sent reliever Mike Thurman to Columbus.

Arias is a 34-year-old alumnus of NYC’s George Washington High School, who has played in the major leagues parts of 10 seasons. He was with the Mariners in spring training and released. He played briefly for Rochester (Triple-A) this year but was released when he struggled at the plate. Prior to the All-Star break he surfaced in Columbus, where he was batting .240 with one homer and 25 RBIs.

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Jeff Weaver had the lineup card from Friday night’s 9-3 Yankee win given to him because it marked his first big-league save.

“It’s pretty cool to get [a save],” said Weaver, who hurled three scoreless innings in Friday night’s 9-3 win. “Especially a three-inning save. I will leave those one-inning saves to [Mariano] Rivera.”