Judge and Yankees get to Yusei Kikuchi early, beat Mariners 5-4

Jul 7, 2021, 10:36 PM

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JULY 07: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees leads off first base as Yusei Kikuchi #18 of the Seattle Mariners pitches during the first inning at T-Mobile Park on July 07, 2021 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JULY 07: Yusei Kikuchi #18 of the Seattle Mariners reacts during the first inning against the New York Yankees at T-Mobile Park on July 07, 2021 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JULY 07: Tom Murphy #2 of the Seattle Mariners celebrates his three-run home run against the New York Yankees during the sixth inning at T-Mobile Park on July 07, 2021 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JULY 07: Mitch Haniger #17 and Tom Murphy #2 of the Seattle Mariners celebrate Murphy's three-run home run against the New York Yankees during the sixth inning at T-Mobile Park on July 07, 2021 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JULY 07: Gio Urshela #29 and Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees celebrate their 5-4 win against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on July 07, 2021 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JULY 07: Tim Locastro #33 and Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees celebrate their 5-4 win against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on July 07, 2021 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JULY 07: Luis Cessa #85 of the New York Yankees reacts after the fourth inning against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on July 07, 2021 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JULY 07: Nick Nelson #79 of the New York Yankees has his glove inspected after the first inning against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on July 07, 2021 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JULY 07: Luke Voit #59 of the New York Yankees rounds the bases during the first inning on his way to score against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on July 07, 2021 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JULY 07: Yusei Kikuchi #18 of the Seattle Mariners takes a moment to himself during the fourth inning against the New York Yankees at T-Mobile Park on July 07, 2021 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JULY 07: Luke Voit #59 of the New York Yankees reacts after scoring a run against the Seattle Mariners during the first inning at T-Mobile Park on July 07, 2021 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JULY 07: Luke Voit #59 and Gary Sanchez #24 of the New York Yankees celebrate a run against the Seattle Mariners during the first inning at T-Mobile Park on July 07, 2021 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JULY 07: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees watches his two-run home run against the Seattle Mariners during the second inning at T-Mobile Park on July 07, 2021 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JULY 07: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees celebrates his two-run home run with Phil Nevin #88 against the Seattle Mariners during the second inning at T-Mobile Park on July 07, 2021 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) — Aaron Judge capped New York’s early offensive outburst against Seattle All-Star Yusei Kikuchi with his 20th home run of the season, and the Yankees held on for a 5-4 win over the Mariners on Wednesday night.

Yankees 5, Mariners 4: Box Score

For the second straight game, the Yankees scored a flurry of runs in the first two innings, but this time had to withstand Seattle’s late rally.

Judge’s two-run homer was clubbed into the second deck of the left field seats and gave New York a 5-1 lead.

Judge bomb. 💣 pic.twitter.com/tiI7ASVqV7

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 8, 2021

Luke Voit had a two-out RBI single in the first inning and Gleyber Torres followed with a two-run single as the Yankees scored three in the first inning for the second straight game.

3⃣ spot in the 1st frame. pic.twitter.com/7vuk1iw7s3

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 8, 2021

Kikuchi (6-4) struggled badly in his first start since becoming an All-Star for the first time. His fastball velocity was down and both his cutter and slider caught too much of the plate early in the game.

The result was a lot of loud contact from the Yankees that Kikuchi was fortunate didn’t result in more runs. Kikuchi allowed a season-high five runs and eight hits and settled down later in his outing to retire the final seven batters and get through five innings.

Domingo Germán was originally slated to start for the Yankees, but underwent an emergency root canal on Wednesday morning and was scratched from starting. Nick Nelson started and failed to make it out of the first inning thanks to three walks, a hit batter and a wild pitch that plated a run for Seattle.

Luis Cessa (2-1) threw 3 1/3 solid innings after Nelson and Germán felt well enough to throw three innings out of the bullpen. He struck out five, but also gave up Tom Murphy’s three-run homer in the sixth inning. All three runs were unearned after Gio Urshela’s error to begin the inning.

One-run ball game thanks to @TomJMurphy2! 💣 pic.twitter.com/U2LXHvaGlE

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) July 8, 2021

It was Murphy’s first home run since June 1.

Jonathan Loaisiga pitched a perfect eighth and Chad Green pitched the ninth for his third save.

10TH ANNIVERSARY

The Mariners celebrated the 10th anniversary of 3B Kyle Seager’s major league debut on Wednesday.

A decade of Seags 💙 pic.twitter.com/eaFe2Xfe0M

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) July 8, 2021

Seager is the 11th player in Mariners history to have played at least 10 seasons with the club. Seager would have liked a better day at the plate — he was hitless with two strikeouts.

APPEAL HEARING

Seattle LHP Hector Santiago is expected to have his appeal of a 10-game suspension for using a grip-enhancing foreign substance heard on Thursday, manager Scott Servais said.

Santiago became the first player disciplined under Major League Baseball’s crackdown on grip-enhancing foreign substances when he was given a 10-game suspension. The suspension was issued after umpires ejected Santiago on June 26 against the Chicago White Sox.

Santiago has appeared in two games since appealing the suspension.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Mariners: LHP Justus Sheffield (forearm strain) was placed on the 10-day injured list and RHP Erik Swanson was reinstated from Triple-A Tacoma. Sheffield was rocked for six earned runs in 1 2/3 innings on Tuesday and indicated afterward he was dealing with an injury. Swanson was on a rehab assignment in the minors after missing time with a groin strain.

UP NEXT

Yankees: LHP Jordan Montgomery (3-3, 4.17) makes his 17th start and is coming off a loss to the Mets where he lasted 4 1/3 innings allowing three earned runs and six hits.

Mariners: RHP Logan Gilbert (2-2, 4.10) makes his 10th start. Gilbert allowed two earned runs in 5 2/3 innings in his last start against the Rangers.

Salk: 4 trade targets Mariners could pursue to improve playoff hopes