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The Yankees’ tilt with Seattle yesterday was a marathon of a game, with never-ending innings, humbled pitchers and the sort of lopsided 14-5 score that have become almost commonplace here in The Bronx.
There was only one twist – the Bombers were on the wrong end of the whipping.
On a cold, drizzly afternoon that must’ve reminded the Mariners of Seattle, they made themselves right at home in Yankee Stadium and sent all but the hardiest of the 41,786 fans back home early, wet and miserable. It was the Mariners that rapped out 19 hits and batted around in the fifth and seventh innings.
It was Seattle that smacked around Orlando Hernandez (3-3) for seven of those runs, and chased him with six in the fifth – tying the biggest inning for a Bomber opponent all season. And, in the end, they exacted their pound of pinstripe flesh for the 10-1 rout the Yankees had dished out on Friday night.
And whatever higher power had turned the tables on these teams overnight clearly has a sense of irony as well as humor. After the Mariners had chased El Duque with the fifth inning, star center fielder and noted Yankee-hater Ken Griffey came to up to bat and dumped salt in the open wound.
Griffey’s hatred of the Yankees can’t be measured. And the Bleacher Creature’s opinion of Griffey can’t be printed. But yesterday he gave them a present, a two-run sixth-inning home run off battered reliever Jay Tessmer, just a couple of the six runs he gave up in his two innings of mostly ineffective work.
That home run gave the 29-year-old Seattle slugger 361 for his brilliant career, and tied him with Yankee Clipper Joe DiMaggio for 45th place on the all-time list. The shot brought down a cascade of boos as Junior trotted around the bases, and was the most vivid picture of a defeat the Bombers would like to forget.
And in reality, it could’ve been even worse. Mariner rookie Freddy Garcia (3-1), came in with lefties hitting .333 against him, but he mowed the Yanks down for most of the game until taking a Chili Davis liner off his right arm. He left the game with a bruised right shoulder and is day-to-day, but that was about the only thing that went wrong for Seattle all day.
After Mariner catcher Tom Lampkin golfed Hernandez’ knee-high 2-1 pitch out into the bleachers in the third inning for a solo home run, Seattle jumped all over El Duque two innings later.
After retiring Lampkin and Rafael Bournigal, Hernandez couldn’t get that elusive third to end the fifth. Brian Hunter singled and came al the way around from first on David Bell’s double to right. Griffey singled up the middle to drive in Bell, and Edgar Martinez worked Hernandez for a walk.
First baseman David Segui roped a single to center that plated Griffey. And finally John Mabry lined a shot under the glove of a diving Tino Martinez at first and out into right field. That hit – one of his career-high five on the afternoon – brought Martinez in for a 5-0 Seattle lead and chased Hernandez. But reliever Tony Fossas fared little better.
After an intentional walk of pinch-hitter Matt Mieski, Lampkin flared a soft single into left to score two more runs. By the time Tessmer retired Bournigal on a popup to right to end the inning, the Mariners had a 7-0 lead.
Jorge Posada put the Bombers in the board with a solo shot to right in the bottom of the inning. But Seattle came right back with two in the top of the sixth, courtesy of Griffey’s blast into the bleachers.
The downer of the day for Seattle was Garcia’s injury; and considering Seattle wretched bullpen, it’s no shock the Yanks immediately mounted a comeback. Reliever Ken Cloude came in and immediately surrendered an RBI double to Scott Brosius. And pinch-hitter Ricky Ledee added a two-RBI single to left off of reliever Jose Paniagua to cut the lead to 9-4.
But that was as close as the Bombers would get. After Seattle loaded the bases in the seventh against Tessmer, Brian Hunter cleared them with a triple into the gap in left-center.
