Makeshift Mariners fall short Tuesday in new Yankee Stadium

NEW YORK — Some words of advice were given to relief pitcher Chris Jakubauskas as he took the mound with the bases loaded and two out in a tie game.

They came courtesy of manager Don Wakamatsu and summed up perfectly the atmosphere felt throughout this eventual 8-5 loss to the New York Yankees on Tuesday night. With the hyped-up crowd in a brand-new Yankee Stadium roaring with intimidating presence and two contenders going toe-to-toe with every pitch, the Mariners hung in until the final at-bats taken by the home side.

Later, in a clubhouse that seemed defeated but definitely not beaten, Jakubauskas let folks in on Wakamatsu's words of wisdom.

"Wak told me on the mound, 'It doesn't get any better than this,' " Jakubauskas said. "And he was right."

Most of the 46,181 fans on hand would likely have agreed after a thrilling game in which the Mariners twice overcame deficits, only to see reliever Sean White suffer a rare off-night in a three-run eighth that decided things. Despite the defeat, the Mariners did not lose any ground to the first-place Los Angeles Angels and may have gained some respect — from their opponent and for themselves.

"I thought it was a great ballgame, obviously, until the bottom of the eighth," Wakamatsu said. "It's the first time I've really seen Whitey struggle out there. He's been so good for us in the tie ballgames."

Not this time though, as four consecutive hits — two of them doubles — snapped a 5-5 tie and put this one away. Melky Cabrera had the go-ahead double, and a two-run single by Derek Jeter marked just the second time in 20 outings that White has given up earned runs.

But Wakamatsu wasn't bowed.

"To come in here with this crowd and this ballpark and be able to battle back twice ... it's just great to see," he said.

Taking two of three in Los Angeles against the Dodgers was one thing. But there was that nagging doubt that this injury-riddled, makeshift lineup with a former relief pitcher in Brandon Morrow taking the mound was about to get waxed by a power-filled American League lineup in a homer-happy ballpark.

Still, the Mariners gave the Yankees everything they could handle.

They did it despite a crushing, two-run homer by Alex Rodriguez off Jakubauskas in the seventh inning, after he had pitched out of the bases-loaded jam in the fifth and through a perfect sixth. But instead of wilting after what Jakubauskas called "the only pitch I'd really want back," the Mariners scored two in the eighth off Brian Bruney to tie things up again.

They had stayed close despite calls that went against them on two check-swings and a bang-bang play at first base to thwart potential rallies. Did it even though the backup middle infielder playing third base, Chris Woodward, fumbled a Hideki Matsui grounder in the second inning, then threw the ball away at first to log two errors that led to two unearned runs.

Seattle still gave the Yankees fits, even with transitioning closer Morrow walking five batters in 4-2/3 innings.

"I got myself into some trouble with some walks, but I didn't give up the big hit and kept us in it," said Morrow, who threw a season-high 98 pitches.

Instead, the Mariners stayed close because of guys like the backup middle infielder starting at shortstop. Ronny Cedeno spared Woodward from a third error in that second inning by snagging a ball that deflected off the third baseman and throwing it to first in time.

Cedeno also launched a Joba Chamberlain offering over the wall in left center in the third to get Seattle started on its first of many comeback efforts. That was just one of nine hits by the bottom third of the order, some of which enabled the Mariners to rally from 2-0, 3-1 and 5-3 down.

Ichiro helped Seattle in the fifth, notching an infield single, stealing two bases and scoring on a Russell Branyan single. Jose Lopez then stole a base and scored the tying run on a Franklin Gutierrez blooped single.

Back and forth these clubs went until White finally couldn't hold it. When it was over, Mike Sweeney shook his head, lamenting some near misses.

"A loss is a loss," Sweeney said. "Hopefully, at midnight tomorrow, we'll see if we got anything out of this. Hopefully, we did."

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

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