Mariners Rally Past Yankees

A bad throw by Mariano Rivera to second base on a bunt. A bloop single to shallow center. A blown game in the final inning.

The New York Yankees had seen all of this before. Only one consolation Saturday--this time, it didn’t cost them the World Series.

Jeff Cirillo took part in an early home run derby, then hit a tiebreaking single against Rivera in the ninth inning that gave the Seattle Mariners a 9-5 victory over the Yankees at New York.

“Is that deja vu again?” Yankee Manager Joe Torre asked.

In a game featuring six home runs, the Mariners won their third in a row. They rallied from a 5-0 deficit, and took advantage of Rivera’s mistake to score four times.

For Rivera and the Yankees, it was an eerie repeat of the ninth inning of Game 7 of the World Series. Arizona rallied for two runs that November night, winning, 3-2, on a soft single by Luis Gonzalez.

Once again, Rivera made a wide throw to second base on a bunt, setting up a go-ahead single that landed in the grass barely beyond second base.

“What happened is in the past. That’s how I treated it,” Rivera said. “I was focusing on this game, not on other games.”

Desi Relaford singled against Steve Karsay (1-1) to start the Seattle ninth. Rivera relieved and, after fielding Ben Davis’ bunt, made a tailing throw to shortstop Derek Jeter.

After a bunt by Luis Ugueto and an intentional walk to Ichiro Suzuki loaded the bases with one out, Cirillo singled for a 6-5 lead.

Ruben Sierra followed with a tapper in front of the plate that also went for a run-scoring single when Rivera and catcher Jorge Posada each backed off, and John Olerud hit a two-run single.

Chicago 10, Oakland 2--Jose Valentin drove in five runs and Ray Durham homered as the White Sox roughed up Tim Hudson at Chicago.

Hudson (3-3) had a 1.87 earned-run average before the game, second-lowest in the American League. But he matched his career high by giving up nine earned runs in 61/3 innings.

Minnesota 3, Detroit 2--Cristian Guzman’s infield single drove in the winning run in the ninth inning, leading the Twins to their 10th consecutive victory at home.

Guzman spoiled the major league debut of reliever Fernando Rodney (0-1).

Guzman’s chopper with the bases loaded and two out was fielded by second baseman Damian Jackson, who was too deep to make the force out at second.

Boston 7, Tampa Bay 5--Shea Hillenbrand’s two-out, pinch-hit grand slam capped a five-run ninth inning at St. Petersburg, Fla.

The towering drive to left field off Victor Zambrano (1-2) struck one of the catwalks that ring the outfield at Tropicana Field--about 120 feet above the field.

The loss was the ninth in a row for Tampa Bay.

Baltimore 10, Kansas City 0--Rodrigo Lopez gave up five hits in seven innings, and Melvin Mora and Marty Cordova hit three-run homers at Baltimore as the Orioles dealt the Royals their fifth consecutive loss.

Cleveland 3, Texas 0--Bartolo Colon dominated for eight innings and Omar Vizquel homered at Cleveland as the Indians ended a losing streak at six.

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Oakland activated infielder Randy Velarde from the 15-day disabled list and optioned outfielder Mike Colangelo to triple-A Sacramento.