Mariners 4, Yankees 1
SEATTLE -- Jeremy Bonderman took another step in his improbable comeback Friday night, when the Seattle Mariners' 30-year-old pitcher beat the New York Yankees to earn his first win in almost 33 months.
Bonderman gave up just three hits and one run over six innings, and the Mariners rode a four-run fourth inning to snap the Yankees' four-game winning streak with a 4-1 win. It was Bonderman's first win since Sept. 8, 2010, as the veteran right-hander struggled with elbow problems that cost him two full seasons.
Bonderman (1-1) gave up a leadoff double but allowed only two hits the rest of the way, including a stretch in which he retired nine batters in a row.
The Mariners (27-35) tagged New York starter Hiroki Kuroda for four runs during a two-out rally in the fourth inning, when all nine Seattle batters came to the plate and six in a row reached base.
Kuroda finished that inning but took the loss after 6 1/3 innings of work. Outside of the fourth, Kuroda (6-5) gave up just four hits and didn't allow a run.
The Mariners took a 4-1 lead with a two-out rally in the fourth that included six consecutive base runners. Brendan Ryan and Jason Bay each drove in two runs with bases-loaded singles before Kuroda got out of the jam when Kyle Seager flied out with two runners on.
The Yankees' Brett Gardner led off the game with a double and later scored, but that was the only run Bonderman allowed in the early innings.
Bonderman recovered from a shaky first to retire nine consecutive batters before the Yankees' Reid Brignac hit a one-out single in the fifth. Bonderman responded with two consecutive outs to preserve the Mariners' three-run lead heading into the bottom of the fifth.
Bonderman, who last pitched in 2010, sat out the 2011 season with elbow problems and went on to have Tommy John surgery in April 2012, sidelining him for a second consecutive season.
The Mariners signed Bonderman to a minor-league contract and started him in Triple-A before the 30-year-old was called up last week to fill in for struggling rookie Brandon Maurer.
In his first major league start in 975 days, Bonderman gave up nine hits and seven runs in a 10-0 loss to Minnesota last weekend.
The Yankees (35-26) had just four hits for the game, the last of which was a two-out Kevin Youkilis double off Mariners closer Tom Wilhelmsen in the ninth. Vernon Wells almost took Wilhelmsen deep in the next at-bat, but the 1-2 pitch he hammered down the leftfield line drifted just foul.
Wells lined out on the next pitch, giving Wilhelmsen his 15th save of the season.
Mariners left-hander Charlie Furbush struck out Robinson Cano, the only hitter he faced, to finish off the eighth inning with a runner on first and put Wilhelmsen in position to earn his third save in five days.
NOTES: After Thursday night's three-run homer, Yankees 2B Robinson Cano now has eight home runs on the road this year. He had 11 on the road during the 2012 season. ... Mariners C Jesus Sucre (non-throwing hand) missed a third consecutive game and isn't expected to be available until Sunday at the earliest. ... After pitching eight scoreless innings in Wednesday's loss to the Chicago White Sox, Mariners RHP Hisashi Iwakuma has a streak of 21 2/3 innings without allowing a run.
