McCutchen homers again, Yankees hold off Mariners 4-2

SEATTLE (AP) — Andrew McCutchen hit his second home run in two days, Dellin Betances pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth inning and the New York Yankees held on to beat the Seattle Mariners 4-2 on Saturday night.

Austin Romine hit a go-ahead homer in the seventh for the Yankees, who moved within 7½ games of first-place Boston in the AL East with 20 to play. New York leads Oakland by 3½ games for the league's top wild card.

Seattle loaded the bases with one out against Betances, but he struck out Denard Span and Kyle Seager to earn his third save.

Yankees starter Lance Lynn (9-10) allowed three hits and two runs in six innings. Lynn is 2-2 in eight starts with the team.

Mariners starter Felix Hernandez left in the fifth with right hamstring tightness.

McCutchen led off the game by sending Hernandez's changeup down the left-field line and into the seats for his second home run with the Yankees.

Mike Zunino tied it in the third with a homer to straightaway center, his 19th of the season.

Giancarlo Stanton gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead in the fifth on a sacrifice fly to right. The inning started with back-to-back walks by Hernandez before he exited with the hamstring injury.

A bloop single to left by Dee Gordon scored Ben Gamel from second and tied the game at 2 in the fifth.

Romine's home run in the seventh off reliever Nick Vincent (3-3) put the Yankees back in front. Gleyber Torres added a sacrifice fly in the ninth.

MEMORIES

It was 25 years ago Saturday when Mariners manager Scott Servais caught a no-hitter for the Houston Astros that was thrown by Darryl Kile against the New York Mets. Kile died nine years later at age 33 of a heart attack.

"Darryl and I were best friends," Servais said. "That night was really special to me. Games like that with people you're that close to, you never forget."

Servais remembers something he told Kile that night after the game.

"Darryl and I were very competitive back and forth. It was like, 'Don't shake me off,' or 'Yeah, OK.' Just a pitcher-catcher thing. And I made a comment that night that one day when we're 55 we'll argue about who was right. Unfortunately, I'll never get to do that with him.

"But I recently was able to spend time with his wife and their kids and see how they're coming along when we were in San Diego. It was good to see them."

TRAINER'S ROOM

Yankees: 3B Miguel Andujar left the game in the ninth inning when he was hit by a pitch on the right forearm. ... SS Didi Gregorius was back in the starting lineup, one day after coming off the 10-day DL. Gregorius, who missed 16 games with a bruised left heel, was 0 for 3 and played six innings before being replaced by Adeiny Hechavarria. Gregorius said Friday he is ready to go all out after playing the last four innings, but Yankees manager Aaron Boone wants to be cautious. "Any time you have a player of that caliber leave, it's hard to keep him out," Boone said. "We'll be excited to get him back, but we also want to be smart about how we bring him back and get him up to full speed."

Mariners: Robinson Cano exited in the ninth when he was hit by a pitch on the left foot.

UP NEXT

Yankees lefty CC Sabathia (7-6, 3.54 ERA) will make his 26th start of the season Sunday. Sabathia's 2,970 career strikeouts are the most among active pitchers. He is 17th all-time and third among lefties. RHP Erasmo Ramirez (2-3, 5.56) makes his seventh start of the season for the Mariners and his fifth since coming off the disabled list Aug. 12. Ramirez has allowed one earned run or less in four of his last five starts.