Yankees 2 Mariners 1″It was a great pitching performance. That’s probably the best stuff [El Duque’s] had all year.”JOE TORRE

Orlando Hernandez may not have been the official winner of yesterday’s 2-1 victory over Seattle, but the Yankees were just as happy about his dominant pitching through the first eight innings as with the game-winning single that Scott Brosius hit with two out in the ninth.

The ball skipping off second baseman David Bell’s glove represented the game slipping through the Mariners’ collective fingers – their seventh straight loss to the Bombers. And when that hit plated Chad Curtis with the game-winner in front of 54,787 at The Stadium, the Yankees had improved to 79-49 to remain even with Cleveland for the best record in the American League.

They did it with a brilliant start from Hernandez, who offset many of their recent pitching woes. With Roger Clemens alternating wins and losses in his last six games and David Cone struggling so badly the Bombers are determined he needs seven days rest, El Duque was the exclamation point amid the question marks.

Establishing a fastball and using a curve and slider to keep baseball’s most power-laden lineup off-balance, Hernandez gave up just three hits, one run and fanned a career-high tying 13 – including Alex Rodriguez three times. He matched Jamie Moyer in a 1-1 pitcher’s duel, until closer Mariano Rivera (3-3) came in to pitch a scoreless ninth and Brosius got the big hit.

“It was a great pitching performance. That’s probably the best stuff he’s had all year,” manager Joe Torre said. “Against this club, you’re not getting any cheap [outs]; they’re as tough to pitch to as any club. He struck out Rodriguez three times; that doesn’t happen. If you go through that lineup and you’re able to shut those guys down, you deserve to win.”

As a matter of fact, Hernandez himself seemed the only Yankee not happy about his performance. Maybe he was perturbed about being lifted after throwing 136 pitches. He answering a short but succinct “Si!” when asked if he’d wanted to stay in.

Possibly he was angry about getting a no-decision. Or it could be he was just galled over something more personal; but the result was an untalkative El Duque.

“I just did my job today; fastball, curveball, whatever,” Hernandez said. “When I go out to the mound, I just try to go out there and pitch. I try to paint corners, and move the ball around. And if they don’t hit it, it’s their problem.”

They didn’t hit it much. After the Yanks had gone ahead in the second inning on Shane Spencer’s RBI single to left, the Mariners knotted the score in the next frame when Hernandez hung a 2-2 breaking ball to Raul Ibanez for a solo shot to right.

But Moyer matched El Duque pitch-for-pitch. What he lacked in dominance, he made up for with resourcefulness. He fanned just three while scattering seven hits over seven innings and allowing just one run.

The Yankees had their chances, but couldn’t break through against Moyer, and they ended up stranding eight baserunners – more than Seattle had all afternoon.

But Hernandez cruised along, striking out the side in the sixth, including getting Rodriguez to chase a full-count breaking ball low and away to end the inning. And even after giving up a two-out single to Brian Hunter and a stolen base in the eighth, he got Bell to go around for a strikeout on his 136th pitch of the afternoon and end the inning.

“He was awesome,” said catcher Jorge Posada, who kept calling on El Duque’s dominant heater. “I didn’t want to call anything else. I wanted to throw the same pitch they were missing.”

Rivera pitched a scoreless ninth. And with one out in the bottom of the inning, Jose Paniagua (6-10) walked DH Chili Davis. Curtis pinch ran for Davis, stole second and took third on Posada’s sac fly. Then, after Mariner manager Lou Piniella intentionally walked Ricky Ledee, Brosius hit a screamer off the glove of Bell, who had moved to second just the inning before.

“Those are the opportunities in a game you look forward to; it’s fun to get that chance,” Brosius said. “When I hit it, it looked good; when he dove for it I thought ‘This doesn’t look so good anymore.’ I saw him going for the ball I figured I’d better hurry or this game’s still going on. I went up and down all in a second.”

Thankfully for the Yanks, he ended up.