NEW YORK — Cameron Maybin narrowly beat right fielder Jay Bruce’s throw home on DJ LeMahieu’s game-ending, ninth-inning hit, lifting the New York Yankees over the Seattle Mariners 5-4 on a soggy Tuesday night.
LeMahieu drove a single to right off Roenis Elias, and Maybin charged in from second and slid feet-first around a tag from catcher Omar Narvaez. Plate umpire Dana DeMuth’s safe call was upheld on replay review.
Gio Urshela hit a tying two-run homer three batters earlier, a shot to center off Anthony Swarzak (2-2). That shot jolted a waterlogged Yankee Stadium crowd that had been jeering its own players amid sloppy play and missed chances in the later innings. New York stranded two runners in each of the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.
Joe Harvey (1-0) pitched out of a jam in the ninth for New York, getting his first big league win.
Rain delayed the game for 1 hour, 12 minutes in the top of the seventh. Showers began moments before Edwin Encarnacion drove Masahiro Tanaka’s splitfinger fastball over the wall in left to make it 2-1. The downpour picked up in the bottom of the inning, and Tanaka pitched to two batters in the seventh before DeMuth called for the tarp.
The Mariners tacked on two runs against Tommy Kahnle in the eighth to make it 4-1. That ended Kahnle’s 11-appearance scoreless streak and his run of 29 consecutive at-bats without a hit.
Urshela also scored New York’s first run, doubling to lead off the third inning, advancing to third on a flyout and aggressively taking home on Brett Gardner’s groundout to second baseman Dee Gordon, who bobbled the ball slightly to lose any chance at throwing out Urshela.
New York has won 13 of 17 despite looking sloppy on a soggy night. Center fielder Brett Gardner and right fielder Clint Frazier let a routine fly drop between them in the fourth, Frazier had Tim Beckham’s warning-track drive bounce off his glove for a two-base error in the seventh, and Maybin was thrown out at third for the final out in the fifth trying to go first-to-third when Marco Gonzales misfired a pickoff attempt.
Even Urshela — dubbed a “Gold Glove-caliber” defender by manager Aaron Boone before the game — booted a grounder in the eighth.
Seattle lost for the eighth time in nine games, dropping to .500 (19-19) after opening at 13-2.
Gonzales came back strong after allowing six runs in 1 2/3 innings in an 11-0 loss to the Cubs in his previous outing. The Mariners’ opening day starter gave up a run, three hits and a walk over six innings. He threw 89 pitches and looked ready to go deep into the game before the delay.
Jay Bruce had three hits and an RBI for Seattle.
SPLIT OUT OF LUCK
Tanaka’s splitter — a go-to offering when the right-hander is on — has lacked its usual bite during his skid, and it only got worse Tuesday.
Seattle jumped all over the pitch. Tanaka threw it just five times in 41 pitches over the first two innings, and two of those were smashed for base hits.
Tanaka abandoned the pitch for a few innings but went back to it in the sixth. That’s when Encarnacion pounced for his solo shot.
Nine of Tanaka’s 95 pitchers were splitters. That 9.5% clip is the second lowest over his 140 career starts. He allowed two runs, five hits and two walks over 6 1/3 innings.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mariners: Encarnacion started at first base, his first appearance in the field after dealing with a shoulder issue the past few days.
Yankees: 1B Luke Voit hopped around after getting hit in the foot by a pitch in the sixth but remained in the game. … OF Giancarlo Stanton (biceps/shoulder) was expected take swings in the cage as he ramps up baseball activities. There’s still no timetable set for his return.
UP NEXT
Yankees RHP Jonathan Loaisiga (1-0, 2.70) makes a spot start in place of injured LHP James Paxton. Rookie Mariners LHP Yusei Kikuchi (1-1, 3.98) is coming off a stellar outing against Cleveland, pitching seven innings of one-run ball with 10 strikeouts and one walk.
