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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
SEATTLE (AP) -- Edgar Martinez reminded himself before his at-bat against Jeff Nelson in the eighth inning that he was in a 1-for-18 slump.
|  | | With 127, Edgar Martinez, center, has more RBI at age 37 than anyone except Babe Ruth, who had 137 in 1932. |
"I've been swinging at bad pitches and I've been
overaggressive," Martinez said after hitting a come-from-behind
grand slam with two outs in the eighth as the Seattle Mariners
stunned the New York Yankees 5-3 Tuesday night.
"When Edgar hits the ball the other way like that, you know it
has a pretty good chance to go out," said Stan Javier, who was on first after an RBI single off left fielder Luis Polonia's glove.
Added Martinez, who had his team-record fourth grand slam of the season: "All these games are very important to us. Any big hit is important to us."
The Mariners, winning for just the third time in 16 games, increased their lead over Oakland in the AL West to 2½ games.
"That was a huge win for us," manager Lou Piniella said. "It could be our biggest win of the year. We hung in there tonight."
Andy Pettitte (16-7), who had won seven straight starts, took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning and three-hit shutout into the
eighth before allowing one-out singles to David Bell, Carlos
Guillen and Rickey Henderson that loaded the bases.
Javier hit a liner to left that Polonia dropped while attempting
a back-handed catch -- it was ruled a hit -- driving in the first run
and chasing Pettitte.
"When he dove for it, I thought he was going to catch it,"
Javier said. "I thought it was a bad play on his part because if
the ball gets past him, the game could have been tied."
Nelson, who has griped in recent weeks about being unappreciated, came in and struck out Alex Rodriguez on a 1-2 pitch, before Martinez poked a pitch into the right-field bleachers for his 32nd homer of the season and eighth career slam, his fourth this season.
It was the fourth blown save for Nelson and the 15th for the Yankees. New York had been 63-2 when leading after seven innings.
"It was a fastball down and away," Nelson said. "I thought he
hit a good pitch. I did exactly what I wanted, and he went the
other way and got it up. I'm down that we lost, but I'm not
disappointed with the way I pitched."
Yankees manager Joe Torre felt sorry Pettitte lost the game.
"It feels like it was criminal because he pitched so well,"
Torre said.
Brett Tomko (7-4) pitched two scoreless innings of two-hit relief, and Kazuhiro Sasaki pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 30th save in 33 chances.
New York's AL East lead was cut to four games over second-place
Boston.
Pettitte, who hadn't lost since July 20, had been backed by
seven or more runs in 15 of 25 starts coming in, including seven in
a row. But this time, New York's offense failed him.
He lost his no-hit bid in the sixth when Guillen dumped a bloop
single between second baseman Luis Sojo and right fielder David
Justice.
David Justice and Glenallen Hill hit RBI singles in the first
off Jamie Moyer, who threw a run-scoring wild pitch in the second.
Game notes
1B Tino Martinez was out of the Yankees' starting lineup
after he hyperextended his left foot in Monday night's game.
Martinez was replaced at 1B by C Jorge Posada, who was replaced by
Chris Turner at catcher. Martinez is expected to be able to play
Wednesday night. ... The Mariners activated Rob Ramsay from the
15-day DL, giving them two LHPs in their bullpen. The other is
Arthur Rhodes. They made room for Ramsay, who was sidelined by a
strained left biceps, by optioning RHP Joel Pineiro to Triple-A
Tacoma. ... Safeco Field's retractable roof was closed for the
first time since July 22, when the roof became stuck open and there
was a 54-minute rain delay. ... Seattle's 11th grand slam of the
season tied the Mariners' team record and ties Oakland for the most
in the majors this year.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
NY Yankees Clubhouse
Seattle Clubhouse
RECAPS
Boston 8
Tampa Bay 0
Detroit 12
Baltimore 2
Kansas City 7
Minnesota 3
Cleveland 12
Texas 1
Anaheim 9
Toronto 4
Chi. White Sox 3
Oakland 0
Seattle 5
NY Yankees 3
Florida 3
St. Louis 1
Arizona 8
Montreal 7
Pittsburgh 8
San Francisco 0
Houston 11
NY Mets 1
Colorado 2
Philadelphia 1
Cincinnati 4
Atlanta 2
Chicago Cubs 7
San Diego 6
Los Angeles 7
Milwaukee 2
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