(Sports Network) - Ichiro Suzuki will get another look at his old team when
the New York Yankees welcome the Seattle Mariners to the Bronx for a three-
game set.
The Mariners dropped two of three at home to the Yankees from July 23-25 after
dealing Ichiro, a two-time batting champion and 10-time All-Star, to New York
before the start of the series.
The Japanese star went 3-for-12 in that series against his old teammates and
has hit safely in all nine games he had played with New York, recording
exactly one hit in each game.
The Yankees, however, haven't been playing all that well with Ichiro, although
they still hold a comfortable 6 1/2-game lead on both Baltimore and Tampa Bay
in the American League East.
Since the trade of Ichiro the Mariners have gone 8-2 and the Yankees are just
4-5.
In fact New York has dropped two of three to both Boston and the Orioles since
leaving Seattle, most recently salvaging the finale of its set with Baltimore
with a 12-3 win on Wednesday.
Robinson Cano capped a seven-run third with his ninth career grand slam, a
stinging liner to right in that one as the Yankees halted a season-high tying
four-game losing streak.
"Whatever you can add on it's important because Baltimore can score some
runs...Our guys kept at it," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.
Derek Jeter tallied three hits, three RBI and a run scored and Jayson Nix
registered three hits, a pair of runs scored and an RBI for the Yankees, who
are currently playing without injured sluggers Alex Rodriguez and Mark
Teixeira.
Curtis Granderson had two hits, including his 29th homer of the year, and two
runs scored.
Cano and Granderson had been a dismal 7-for-45 combined through five games on
a nine-game residency coming into Wednesday's game.
The M's, meanwhile, won their season-high seventh straight game on Wednesday
when Eric Thames hit a game-tying two-run home run in the fifth inning and
John Jaso had the deciding RBI single in the sixth to lift Seattle over the
Toronto Blue Jays, 5-3, completing a three-game sweep at Safeco Field.
The seven-game run is the Mariners longest since an eight-game winning streak
from June 23- July 1, 2007.
"I tell you what's going on, we're winning games in different fashion,"
manager Eric Wedge told the Mariners' website. "That's important to me, and
that's important at this level."
Ace CC Sabathia will take the hill for New York on Friday, hoping to bounce
back from a bad outing and aiming to extend a seven-start win streak against
the M's. The big left-hander, who allowed six runs in six innings during an
8-6 loss to Boston on Saturday, traditionally dominates the Mariners and is
11-4 with a 2.42 ERA in 19 career starts against them.
In the seven-start run against the Mariners, Sabathia's ERA is an eye-popping
0.88.
He'll be opposed by veteran right-hander Kevin Millwood, who is just 3-7 with
a 4.73 ERA in 15 career starts against the Yanks.
New York has won four of six versus the Mariners this season.
The Sports Network