DJ LeMahieu singled home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning as the New York Yankees rallied to beat the Mariners 5-4 Tuesday night in a game delayed 1 hour, 12 minutes by rain.
The Yankees scored once in the eighth and three times in the ninth to overcome a 4-1 deficit. M’s reliever Anthony Swarzak (2-2) blew his third save in six opportunities.
Swarzak allowed a two-run homer to Gio Urshela that tied the score at 4-4. Former Mariner Cameron Maybin then grounded a single into right field and Swarzak was replaced by left-hander Roenis Elias. Maybin stole second to get into scoring position and scored on LeMahieu’s two-out single to right.
Edwin Encarnacion hit a solo homer in the sixth inning to give Seattle a 2-1 lead.
It stayed that way until a steady downpour forced umpires to call for the tarp to be put on the field with two outs in the top of the seventh inning.
That ended the night for left-hander Marco Gonzales, the former Gonzaga standout, who allowed one run on three hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out three.
Right-hander Cory Gearrin came on for Gonzales after the delay, getting out of a jam in the seventh by inducing an inning-ending double play.
Domingo Santana’s run-scoring single and an RBI double by Jay Bruce gave the M’s a three-run cushion in the eighth.
Mariners reliever Brandon Brennan walked the first two batters he faced in the eighth, with one eventually scoring on a wild pitch, before the disastrous ninth.
Of note
Santana has 33 RBIs this season, tied with the Chicago White Sox’s Jose Abreu for the American League lead. … Bruce went 3 for 4 with two doubles to raise his average to .196.
By the numbers
.444: Encarnacion’s career batting average against Tanaka, after going 1 for 2 Tuesday with a home run. That’s the highest average of any player with at least 20 plate appearances against the Japanese right-hander. It was Encarnacion’s third homer in 27 at-bats against Tanaka.
Our take from Right Field
To think, a team from Seattle praying for rain. Had the game not resumed, the M’s would have won 2-1. Mother Nature was especially cruel, cutting Gonzales’ start to six innings and 89 pitches.
Up next
The M’s continue their four-game series in the Bronx with a 3:35 p.m. game Wednesday. LHP Yusei Kikuchi (1-1, 3.98 ERA) is scheduled to oppose Yankees RHP Jonathan Loaisiga (1-0, 2.70).
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