Yankees are down for count

NEW YORK -- The New York Yankees' pitching went sour so quickly last night against the Seattle Mariners it was almost as if these guys had expiration dates on their backs. That's because what took place on the Yankee Stadium mound, especially during a woeful fifth inning, had quite the stench.

Just ask Yankees fans who sat through it.

The low point of the Yankees' 15-11 loss to the Mariners definitely came during a 30-minute fifth inning when pitchers Kei Igawa, Colter Bean, and Luis Vizcaino struggled to get outs. The Mariners scored eight runs as they sent 13 hitters to the plate.

Every Mariners starter had a hit -- Raul Ibanez went 4 for 6, Jose Lopez drove in four runs, and six players scored twice -- and the Yankees had perhaps their most discouraging loss of the year.

"We need to get people out and we didn't do a very good job of that," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "We can't expect to survive when you don't get people out."

The Yankees came in with high hopes for Igawa as he was coming off six scoreless innings of relief against the Red Sox last Saturday, and they gave him a 5-0 lead after the first inning.

But Igawa did not distinguish himself at all, and neither did relievers Bean or Vizcaino. All three were at fault in the Mariners' eight-run fifth inning that put them ahead for good. Asked to describe how he felt in that inning, Torre said, "Helpless."

Igawa was charged with eight runs on nine hits, including three home runs, in four-plus innings.

After a two-out, three-run homer by Lopez, Seattle's ninth hitter, tied it at 6, the Yankees gave Igawa another lead, 8-6, this time via a two-out, two-run double by Alex Rodriguez in the fourth.

But Igawa gave up consecutive singles to Jose Vidro and Ibanez leading off the fifth and Torre had enough. But in came Bean and everything quickly deteriorated.

Bean's first eight pitches were all balls, and he walked in a run. A run-scoring single by Kenji Johjima tied it at 8 and a two-run double by Yuniesky Betancourt gave the Mariners a two-run lead, and the fans booed Bean as if he was wearing a Red Sox uniform.

Bean fell behind Lopez, 2 and 0, and Torre pulled him. Bean's pitching line read zero innings, two hits, two walks, four runs, all earned. He threw only four of 17 pitches for strikes.

"No excuses. Just horrible," Bean said.

Torre called Vizcaino into his league-leading 18th game hoping the veteran journeyman would limit the damage. Four of the next five Mariners hit singles off him, helping to build a 14-8 advantage.

A three-run home run by Johnny Damon in the seventh pulled the Yankees to within 15-11. Then the Yankees loaded the bases in the ninth, but Damon popped out and Jeter grounded to shortstop.