Santana's HR all powerful lineup can muster
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NEW YORK -- The Mariners are on pace to break the 2018 Yankees record for most home runs in a Major League season, but that was little solace on Thursday as the latest version of the Yankees topped Seattle, 3-1, in the series finale in the Bronx.
The Mariners’ lone run came on Domingo Santana's homer off closer Aroldis Chapman with two outs in the ninth, giving them 75 long balls in 40 games this season. That’s on pace for 304, which would top last year’s total of 267 by the Yankees.
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Mariners right-hander Mike Leake allowed just one run on six hits over seven innings, but Seattle couldn’t muster much opposition against lefty J.A. Happ and four relievers on a chilly New York night. The Mariners’ only hit prior to Santana’s homer came on catcher Tom Murphy's two-out single to left in the fifth, and Seattle advanced only two runners past first base.
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The Yankees gave themselves some cushion with a bases-loaded, two-run single by Gio Urshela off Connor Sadzeck in the eighth as they won the series, 3-1, and improved to 22-15 on the year despite a rash of injuries.
The rookie Sadzeck is one of several youngsters the Mariners are trying in late-inning situations as they search for bullpen answers. He has posted a 2.87 ERA in 13 appearances.
“Connor made a really good pitch,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “He got ahead in the count, 0-2, with a couple pretty good sliders, then tried to take a shot on a 97-98 mph fastball up. He just hit it in the right spot. Unfortunately, that happens some nights. We’ve got to give these guys a chance. We have a lot of young, inexperienced relievers down there. You’ve got to fire them out there. I was hoping he could work through it. It just wasn’t the case tonight.”
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Leake (2-4, 4.37 ERA) gave up a run in the second on a two-out RBI double by one-time Mariner Cameron Maybin, but he otherwise held the Yankees in check with his best outing since opening the season with back-to-back wins.
“Everything seemed to be working,” Leake said. “I was getting out front pretty easy tonight, mixing and matching and trying to keep them off-balance as usual with that. But I thought I was really able to get where I wanted better than the games before.”
Added Servais: “Mike threw the ball really well. He had them off-balance all night. Seven innings, six hits, you can’t ask for much more in this ballpark. He did everything we could ask. You’ve got to put some points up in this yard, and we just didn’t get it done tonight.”
The loss dropped Seattle back to .500 at 20-20. The Mariners are 2-5 on their 10-game road trip, heading to Boston for a weekend series. Since opening the season with the best record in the Majors at 13-2, the Mariners have the worst mark in MLB in the ensuing 25 games at 7-18.