Joba, Aceves falter in Sunday defeat

(Originally written for Baseball Digest)

Joba Chamberlain allowed four earned runs over five innings, and was relieved by an equally shaky Alfredo Aceves, who was charged with four runs of his own in 1 2/3 innings.  Doug Fister, on the other hand, pitched well in seven innings, as the Mariners defeated the Yankees 10-3 to avoid a four-game sweep Sunday afternoon at Safeco Field.

The game started out well for the Yankees, as Derek Jeter recorded two hits in his first two at-bats to pass Luis Aparicio with the most hits as a shortstop, including an RBI double in the third inning.

Chamberlain retired the first seven batters he faced, but ran into trouble after walking Ryan Langerhans with one out in the third.  After a single and another walk, Jose Lopez hit a two-run double to give the Mariners a 2-1 lead.

Nick Swisher and the Yankees responded in the next half-inning, when he hit a two-run home run to center to put the Yankees ahead 3-2.

But Chamberlain was undone in the fifth, with successive two-out RBI singles.

The Mariners wouldn’t look back from there, but they added insurance in the seventh.  Aceves struggled in his second inning of work, but he wasn’t helped by Jerry Hairston Jr. to a step back before having to charge on Ken Griffey Jr.’s leadoff fly ball.  Instead of making the catch, he had to field it on a hop.  Eventually, the Mariners had the bases loaded with one out.  After Langerhans struck out, Aceves hit Josh Wilson with a pitch.  Chad Gaudin was then brought in, and he gave up three straight RBI base hits, extending the Mariners’ lead to 9-3.  Kenji Johjima’s solo home run in the eighth put the M’s ahead 10-3.

The Yankees don’t lose any ground in the American League East, as the Red Sox were defeated in Texas.  The Yankees take their 7.5-game division lead to Oakland for three games starting tomorrow night.  A.J. Burnett will start against Brett Tomko, whom the Yankees designated for assignment earlier this summer.