Yankees 4, Mariners 3
NEW YORK -- Moved down to sixth in the lineup, Alex Rodriguez homered on the first pitch he saw Sunday afternoon as the New York Yankees defeated the Seattle Mariners, 4-3.
Hitless in 19 at-bats since hitting a long home run off Mike Pelfrey during the first inning in Detroit on April 9, Rodriguez was moved down three spots after going 0-for-5 with three strikeouts and two groundouts Saturday.
With a runner on first base and nobody out in the second inning, Rodriguez lined a pitch clocked at 86 mph from Hisashi Iwakuma (0-2) into the left-field seats. It was his 689th career home run and fourth hit of the season and the hit gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead.
Rodriguez struck out in the third and fouled out in the fifth against Iwakuma. He struck out in the eighth against Nick Vincent and is batting .118 (4-for-34) with 13 strikeouts.
New York snapped a four-game losing streak and also ended a 30 at-bat hitless stretch with runners in scoring position on an RBI double by Brett Gardner in the third. The other Yankees' run came when Gardner scored on a wild pitch in the fifth.
Masahiro Tanaka (1-0) won the 12th matchup of Japanese pitchers while facing his former teammate from the Rakuten Golden Eagles in Japan's Pacific League. Tanaka allowed three runs (two earned) and six hits in seven innings.
Dellin Betances struck out the side in the eighth and Andrew Miller recorded his third save.
Seattle was attempting to win three straight games in New York on three straight days for the first time since 2002. The Mariners swept the Yankees here two years but the third game was a makeup game in June.
Kyle Seager had an RBI groundout and scored on a single by Steve Clevenger. Seattle's other run was on an RBI single by Seth Smith.
Iwakuma made his 100th start and allowed four runs and eight hits in seven innings.
Before Rodriguez's home run, the Mariners took a 1-0 lead in the first when second baseman Starlin Castro made a wide throw on a force attempt and shortstop Didi Gregorius was unable to complete the double play as Smith scored.
After Rodriguez's home run, Gardner made it 3-1 with a double over center fielder Nori Aoki's head. The Mariners made it 3-2 on Clevenger's single in the fourth and tied the game in the fifth when Smith singled through a drawn-in infield after Aoki's triple eluded Jacoby Ellsbury's diving attempt in center field.
The Yankees regained the lead when Gardner scored on a wild pitch during an at-bat by Mark Teixeira with one out in the fifth.
NOTES: Sunday's demotion of DH Alex Rodriguez to sixth coincided with the one-year anniversary of him being moved up to third in New York's lineup. ... Sunday was the fifth time the Yankees were involved in all-Japanese pitching matchup and the fourth time against Seattle. The first instance was May 7, 1999 against Seattle when Hideki Irabu beat Mac Suzuki in New York's 10-1 win at Yankee Stadium. ... Seattle manager Scott Servais said RHP Joaquin Benoit appeared to be throwing "free and easy" and with no restrictions Saturday when he pitched for the first time since April 8 due to right shoulder stiffness. ... Sunday was the 65th anniversary of former public address announcer Bob Sheppard's first game at Yankee Stadium. The first batter he introduced was Boston's Dom DiMaggio.