Yankees 4, Mariners 3
NEW YORK -- Designated hitter Alex Rodriguez hit a tie-breaking home run with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning and the New York Yankees opened the second half of the season with a 4-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday.
The Yankees won for the eighth time in 11 games with the help of Rodriguez, who drove a 1-0 fastball from left-hander Joe Beimel (0-1) over the right-center-field wall and into New York's bullpen.
Before Rodriguez hit his 19th home run of the season and 673rd of his career, right fielder Chris Young homered while third baseman Chase Headley and catcher Brian McCann had RBI singles.
Third baseman Kyle Seager homered in consecutive at-bats for the Mariners, who had a five-game winning streak in New York stopped. Seager was the lone offense for Seattle as second baseman Robinson Cano and designated hitter Nelson Cruz were a combined 0-for-8 with four strikeouts.
New York right-hander Masahiro Tanaka (6-3) allowed three runs and five hits in seven innings. He struck out seven, issued two walks and threw 103 pitches.
Dellin Betances struck out Seager and Cruz in an 11-pitch eighth. Andrew Miller gave up a one-out single to pinch hitter Mark Trumbo but struck out former Yankee prospect Jesus Montero and notched his 19th save in as many opportunities.
Seattle's Mike Montgomery allowed three runs and seven hits in six innings.
New York took a 1-0 lead with one out in the second when Young drove a full-count fastball into the left-field seats for his 11th home run.
Seattle quickly tied it with one out in the third when Seager drove a 1-0 curveball into the right-field seats.
The Yankees went ahead with nobody out in the fourth when Young doubled and scored on a single up the middle by Headley, but the Mariners took a 3-2 lead when Seager drove a first-pitch fastball a little farther into the right-center-field seats than his first home run.
Seattle's first lead of the night was short-lived as McCann's RBI single to the right-field corner forged a 3-3 tie with nobody out in the fifth. New York was unable to regain the lead as Headley bounced into an inning-ending double play.
NOTES: The Yankees activated INF Brendan Ryan from the disabled list. He had missed nearly a month with an upper-back injury. New York also optioned INF Gregorio Petit back to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, ending his fourth stint in the majors. ... Seattle recalled RHP Tom Wilhelmsen from Triple-A Tacoma, where he had spent the past two weeks. ... New York OF Carlos Beltran made a rehab appearance for Class A Tampa as he recovers from an oblique injury. ... Seattle manager Lloyd McClendon said LHP J.A. Happ will start Monday in Detroit. Happ was optioned to Class A Bakersfield on July 9 after struggling through four innings July 8.