M's enjoy Bronx revival

NEW YORK — There was an unfamiliar sound emanating from the corridors here as the Mariners headed off the field.

It was the sound of victory.

Players whooping it up, backs being slapped and high-fives exchanged as they poured into the visitors' clubhouse after a 7-1 rout of the New York Yankees on Monday afternoon. Cellphones kept ringing, one of them with the sound of church bells, as if the congratulatory calls being received by players also carried some sign that divine intervention had just occurred.

"No champagne?" a boisterous manager John McLaren jokingly called out as he entered the room, finally freed from the personal torment of a nine-game losing streak.

Over in the Yankees clubhouse, there was a different sound — one of silence.

Before the game, the Yankees learned that first baseman Andy Phillips is out for the remainder of the regular season with a fractured wrist suffered Sunday. And then, after seeing starter Roger Clemens taken apart on the mound in a 16-hit attack by the Mariners, the team learned the frightening news that he'd be having a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exam on his right elbow.

All of a sudden, out of the ashes of a smoldering Mariners season, a playoff race has flickered back to life.

"The only thing I had on my mind today is win," Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez said. "No matter how, no matter what. Just win."

Hernandez termed it the biggest game of his career and pitched to the level one would expect of such an outing. The 21-year-old, making his Yankee Stadium debut in front of 54,522 fans, shut down the home team on just one run and five hits over seven dominant innings.

But he did it with help.

McLaren had talked throughout the losing streak about the Mariners failing to get the "little things" done right. But they got a couple done early in this one as shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt and second baseman Jose Lopez turned the double play of the year in the second inning after the first two Yankees had reached base in a 1-1 game.

Robinson Cano hit a smash that appeared headed up the middle until a diving Betancourt got his glove on the ball. Still on the ground, Betancourt did a backhanded shovel toss to Lopez, who bare-handed the ball at second for one out before firing to a stretching Ben Broussard at first base to complete the twin-killing.

The play prevented what might have been a big inning by the Yankees, who never quite threatened again. Seattle went ahead to stay the next inning as Ichiro launched a leadoff homer to right-center field on a 2-0 pitch from Clemens for his 200th hit of the season.

It marked the seventh consecutive year Ichiro has collected 200 hits, making him only the third player to accomplish the feat.

The next "little thing" done right came during some add-on runs in the fourth inning, when Lopez stood his ground and took a Clemens pitch off his side to put runners at the corners with two outs. Betancourt didn't let the Clemens mistake — against a struggling No. 8 hitter — go to waste, as he roped his first of two doubles, this one down the left-field line to score both runners.

Ichiro added a single to score Betancourt and the Mariners suddenly were cruising with a 5-1 lead.

Looking back, Hernandez agreed the double play turned by Betancourt and Lopez had changed the game's complexion entirely.

"Those guys in the middle infield, Betancourt and Lopez, they play unbelievable," Hernandez said. "I believe in those guys and in all of the defense. I just want to throw strikes and have them put the ball in play.

"That's what I'm going to do. Get ground balls and make some outs."

Lopez said the infield grass slowed the ball enough for Betancourt to stop it. As for bare-handing Betancourt's throw to second, Lopez said it was his only option.

"If I catch it with my glove, we'll never get the out at first base," he said.

Betancourt said his latest acrobatic effort was something his reeling team sorely needed.

"It made the team happy today," he said, with Lopez translating. "We'd lost nine in a row and we had to stay close to the wild card."

That has somehow been done by these Mariners despite being a game below .500 since the All-Star break. And despite a 1-4 trip, a 1-9 record the past 10 days and more losing streaks (four) of six or more games than any team in baseball.

"The guys were ready to play like they've been and we got us a win to show for it," McLaren said. "There are a lot of reasons why we didn't win [any of the previous nine games]. For us to be consistent, be a good ballclub, we can't have these long streaks.

"It's not for a lack of effort. It's just that we need to do some little things better in all phases of our game."

They got some little things right this time. And now they hope to embark upon a different type of streak when they need it most.

Geoff Baker: 206-464-8286 or gbaker@seattletimes.com.

Read his daily blog at www.seattletimes.com/Mariners