Seattle, WA (My Sportsbook) - Mike Mussina pitched eight strong innings to become the first seven-game winner in the majors, leading the
New York Yankees to a 7-2 victory over the
Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field. Hideki Matsui and Nick Johnson hit two-run homers for the Yankees, who snapped a season-high three-game losing streak.
Johnson finished 3-for-5 with three runs batted in and Matsui was 2-for-5 with two runs scored. Jorge Posada and Enrique Wilson also drove in runs for the Yankees, who dropped a 12-7 decision in Tuesday's series-opener.
John Olerud homered for Seattle, which had a four-game winning streak stopped. Bret Boone added three hits and a run scored in defeat.
Mussina (7-0) gave up two runs and five hits with a season-high 12 strikeouts and no walks. He has won nine straight regular-season starts dating back to last year and became the first Yankee to win his first seven starts in a season since Bob Turley in 1958.
The righthander leads the American League with 63 strikeouts and has walked just eight this season. He improved to 15-5 lifetime against the Mariners.
Joel Pineiro (2-3) took the loss, allowing four runs on six hits in six innings. He walked three and struck out four.
The Mariners grabbed a 1-0 lead with one out in the second when Olerud connected for his second homer, a blast over the right field wall, but Mussina didn't allow another run until the seventh and the Yankees scored six times in between.
New York reached Pineiro for a run in the fourth when Matsui stroked a one-out double, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Posada.
The Yankees then took the lead in the fifth. Raul Mondesi led off with an infield single and stole second, then took third on a fly ball before scoring on a two-out base hit by Johnson.
Matsui followed a Bernie Williams walk with his third homer of the season in the sixth to make it 4-1. Johnson clubbed a Julio Mateo offering over the center field wall after Alfonso Soriano was hit by a pitch leading off the seventh to increase the lead to 6-1.
The Mariners got one back in the bottom of the seventh when Boone singled, took second on a grounder and scored on a base hit by Mike Cameron.
New York tacked on another run in the eighth, as Mondesi walked, stole second and raced home on a base hit by Wilson.
Mussina then struck out the side in the home eighth before turning it over to Mariano Rivera, who pitched a one-hit ninth.
