SEATTLE — What does an MVP look like?
He stands in the box in the top of the ninth with the score tied on the road and crushes a home run that vaults his club to a victory.
Say hello to Mark Teixeira whose leadoff homer in the ninth against right-hander Mark Lowe propelled the sizzling Yankees to a 4-2 victory over the Mariners last night in front of 36,769.
“I had one thing in mind,” Teixeira said of his approach to the right-handed Lowe. “I hoped he made a mistake, if he doesn’t, you walk. I had one thing in mind and he left a pitch in the middle of the plate.”
As soon as the 1-1 change-up kissed Teixeira’s bat everybody in the park knew it was gone.
“It was huge,” Teixeira said of his 30th homer. “No one wants extra innings on the road. To get Mo [Mariano Rivera] in the bottom of the ninth with a lead is all you can ask for.”
Nick Swisher’s two-out RBI single in the ninth gave Rivera a two-run cushion. Pitching for the first time since not being available Wednesday because of a cranky arm, Rivera worked a perfect ninth for his MLB-leading 34th save in 35 chances and 30th straight. It was Rivera’s 900th appearance. He is the 22nd pitcher in MLB history log that many games.
The Yankees’ fourth straight victory and 11th in a dozen games enabled them to stay 6½ games ahead of the Red Sox in the AL East. The Red Sox rallied for a dramatic, ninth-inning win over the Rangers.
For the second straight game the Yankees (73-43) played without cleanup hitter Alex Rodriguez. He was scratched from the lineup with back spasms after missing Thursday’s game with a bruised and swollen left elbow.
Derek Jeter and Jerry Hairston, Jr. drove in the other Yankees runs.
Phil Hughes (5-3) was the winner after working a scoreless eighth in which he walked two with two out.
“It’s fun to come to the ballpark every day,” said Hughes, who walked Ken Griffey, Jr. and Russell Branyan, hitters with the ability to hit the ball out.
Five of the last six outs Andy Pettitte got were strikeouts and the 10 strikeout he registered established a season high.
In six innings Pettitte, who gave up two runs in the first, allowed six hits and issued a walk.
Pettitte is 1-0 with three no-decisions in his last four starts in which he has posted a 1.38 ERA.
Brian Bruney, who worked his second game in as many nights for the first time since late June, gave up a two-out single to Michael Saunders in the seventh but retired Ichiro Suzuki on a grounder to keep the score tied, 2-2.
Hughes replaced Bruney and retired the first two batters in the eighth before walking the next two. He stranded the runners by fanning Jack Hannahan on a 2-2 pitch.
So, what does Teixeira think of the MVP talk?
“That’s for the end of the season,” said Teixeira, who has swatted 30 or more homers in six straight seasons. “That means I am helping the team win.”
If manager Joe Girardi had a vote he knows where it would go.
“Look at the big hits and the defense,” Girardi said of his first baseman who threw out Josh Wilson after Pettitte caught him trying to steal second in the fourth. “He is a legitimate candidate.”
Mariners lefty starter Ryan Rowland-Smith went seven innings, allowed two runs, three hits, walked two and fanned five. In six previous appearances against the Yankees (one start), Rowland Smith was 0-0 with a 7.20 ERA and had walked eight in 10 innings.