Yanks Drop Seattle Series Opener Despite Two-Homer Games By Sanchez & Castro

On a chilly night in Seattle. the Yankees squandered two two-homerun games by Gary Sanchez and Starlin Castro as they fell to the Mariners in game one of the three-game set. Former Mariner Michael Pineda and emergency call-up Cody Martin started the game for both sides tonight, neither of which would factor into the final decision in this wild west coast non-sanctioned homerun derby. Tonight's contest had a little bit of everything, from multi-homerun games to highlight reel catches to a ninth inning balk, with a total of seven longballs that accounted for every run of the game sprinkled on top in this action-packed back-and-forth game one.

The first Yankee catcher to win the AL Player of the Week Award since former captain Thurman Munson did it in 1978, Gary Sanchez put the Bombers on the board first with his sevent bomb in the first 17 games of his young career. Sanchez's homer bounced off the top of the left field wall and into the stands to put the Yankees up 1-0 in the top of the first.

Not to be outdone in the top of the second, Starlin Castro obliterated a hanging breaking-ball from Martin that went deep into the stands in left to extend the Yankee lead to two.

After keeping the potent Mariner offense scoreless through three, Pineda gave up the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Seth Smith started the rally with a leadoff opposite field double down the line in left, advancing to third on a Robinson Canó single. Two batters later, the RBI leader for Seattle Kyle Seger unloaded on a Pineda 3-0 get-me-over fastball to dead center that gave the M's a 3-2 lead.

The homerun derby continued in the top of the sixth as the Bombers slugged their way back on top. After Ellsbury ripped a one-out single, the dream career start for rookie sensation Gary Sanchez continued as he went deep for the second time tonight, a two-run blast to center that put the Yanks up by one. And then two batters later, Starlin Castro followed with his second longball of the game, another blast to dead center that made it 5-3 New York.

The Mariners again used the homerun ball to retake the lead in the bottom of the sixth as they knocked Pineda out of the game. After giving up a single to Canó and a one-out walk to Seger, Pineda was pulled for Tommy Layne while responsible for the two runners on base. Layne got Adam Lind to pop out and was taken out for Anthony Swarzak, who worked Mike Zunino to a full count before serving up a three-run jack to the M's backstop that put them back on top by a 6-5 score. Because both runners were his, Pineda's final line ended up at 5.1 innings pitched, allowing five runs on seven hits while walking two and striking out six. The Zunino shot was also the 10th homerun allowed by Swarzak in just 28 innings of work, which should be good enough for a ticket back to Scranton if you ask me.

In this road trip of unbelievably amazing catches, late-inning defensive replacement Sean O'Malley added his name to the list as he dove into the stands in foul territory to record the second out of the seventh. And then in the bottom of the eighth, Jacoby Ellsbury soared through the air to steal an extra-base hit away from Canó, crashing into the wall to record the first out of the eighth.

Before turning it over to their young closer Edwin Diaz, Nelson Cruz launched, you guessed it, the seventh homerun of the game, a broken-bat bomb to left that extended the Mariners lead to two. The rookie closer Diaz made things interesting by hitting the ninth inning leadoff hitter Brian McCann, who advanced to second base on a Chase Headley single. And after a rare balk that advanced both runners up a base to put the tying run in scoring position, Diaz got Brett Gardner to ground out to second to end the scoring threat and the game.

Let's hope the Yankees  have a short memory as they look for a series-tying victory in tomorrow night's game two, with first pitch scheduled for 10:10 PM/EST.