SEATTLE — Carlos Santana snapped a 0-17 slump with a go-ahead, two-run homer in the three-run seventh inning, and the Mariners rallied to beat the New York Yankees 4-3 on Wednesday night.
Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 45th home run of the season for the Yankees, who have lost eight of 10.
Thanks to two tense one-run wins, Seattle won two of three from New York for the second week in a row to win the season series 4-2. The Mariners won 1-0 in 13 innings on Tuesday night. With the Yankees leading the AL East and Seattle holding the AL wild card spot, the teams could meet again in the playoffs.
Seattle hasn’t lost a series to a team other than AL West-leading Houston since mid-June, when it fell four of five to the Los Angeles Angels.
Kyle Higashioka hit a two-run homer in the 115th and Seattle starter Robbie Ray’s final pitch in the seventh to snap a 19-inning scoreless streak for the Yankees, and Judge’s long drive off Penn Murfee (3-0 ) made it 3-1 later in the frame.
Murfee then retired DJ LeMahieu and Anthony Rizzo, Diego Castillo pitched a perfect eighth and Paul Sewald pitched the ninth for his 15th save.
Ray and New York starter Nestor Cortes were fantastic, following standout performances Tuesday night by Gerrit Cole of the Yankees and Luis Castillo of the Mariners.
Cortes struck out 10 and didn’t allow a hit until Sam Haggerty homered off the left-field foul pole with one out in the sixth. He was lifted after allowing back-to-back singles to Ty France and Mitch Haniger to lead off the seventh. Haniger’s hit scored France to make it 3-2.
Albert Abreu (2-2) struck out Eugenio Suarez but left a changeup in the middle of the plate and Santana didn’t miss, hitting his seventh home run since being acquired by Seattle in June.
Ray allowed three hits and two runs in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out seven but walked a season-high five.