On the Yankees beat

We apologize for the difficulties. Stephen Haynes here with you in the top of the 4th inning.

Derek Jeter and Xavier Nady hit solo home runs to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

Bottom of the 3rd
Mike Mussina was coasting with a 2-0 lead, but Adrian Beltre, with Yuniesky Betancourt on base, took him deep to the opposite field for a game-tying home run. The score is 2-2.

Top of the 4th
With Xavier Nady at third and Hideki Matsui at first with one out, pitcher Ryan Feierabend struck out Robinson Cano and got Jose Molina to fly out to escape the frame unscathed. 2-2.

Bottom of the 4th
The Mariners go ahead on Jose Lopez's solo homer to left field off Mussina to lead off the inning. Mussina retires the next three. 3-2, Mariners.

Top of the 5th
A base-running stafu by the Yankees cost Jason Giambi a chance to drive in a run. With two outs, A-Rod got picked off at first but second base was left uncovered, so he reached safely. However, Jeter took off from second to third on the throw-over and was nailed between those bases, ending the frame. 3-2, Mariners.

Bottom of the 5th
With one out, Ichiro layed down a bunt up the third base line and Mike Mussina (a Gold Glover), fielded it and rushed the throw, sailing it over Giambi's head up the first base line allowing Suzuki to reach second. He scored on Raul Ibanez's single. 4-2, Mariners.

Top of the 6th
A 1-2-3 inning for Feierabend. 4-2, Mariners.

Bottom of the 6th
Mussina has a 1-2-3 inning with two stikeouts sandwiched around a fly out to right. 4-2, Mariners.

Top of the 7th
Feierabend with another quick, 1-2-3 inning. 4-2, Mariners.

Bottom of the 7th
* Mussina relieved by lefty Phil Coke.
Coke retires the side. That's the fourth consecutive 1-2-3 frame. 4-2 Mariners.

Top of the 8th
Guess what! Another 1-2-3 inning. Miguel Batista quickly went through the heart of the Yankees' order, retiring Jeter, Abreu and Alex Rodriguez. 4-2, Mariners.

Bottom of the 8th
* Coke is relieved by Jose Veras
Jose Lopez hits his second homer of the afternoon (the first multi-dinger game of his career), taking Jose Veras out to left field. He wrapped it around the foul pole. 5-2, Mariners.

Top of the 9th
Giambi reached was hit in the wrist by a pitch from hard-throwing closer J.J. Putz and was in obvious pain. He was pinch-run for by Cody Ransom (that likely would've happened, regardless of the wrist). With one out, Hideki Matsui singled to bring the potential tying run to the plate. Putz, however, struck out Cano and Wilson Betemit (who pinch-hit for Molina) to end the game. Mariners win, 5-2.

The win improves the Mariners to 56-86. With the loss, the Yankees fall to 76-67, which puts them 10 games behind the Rays in the American League East and 8.5 games behind the Red Sox in the Wild Card race. Their elimination number drops to 13, which means that in the remaining 19 games, any combination of Yankees losses and/or Red Sox wins totaling 13 will result in "2008" being tacked on to the end of "1995-" on the Yankees' consecutive playoff-berths tombstone.

Mike Mussina takes the loss, dropping his record to 17-8 and upping his ERA to 3.48. Ryan Feierabend, who gave up two runs on five hits in seven innings and struck out four, earned his first win of the season and the second of his career.

For the Yankees, Derek Jeter went 2-for-3 with a home run and pulled his batting average to .300. For the Mariners, Jose Lopez did the most damage, going 3-for-4 with two homers.