SEATTLE — They had arguably the best pitcher in baseball working for them against a lineup that has less muscle than theirs.
The falling-back-to-earth Blue Jays already had lost in the daytime, so a chance to cut into the AL East leader’s advantage was in play.
If ever a June game could be labeled a must-win, the Yankees-Mariners tilt at Safeco Field Wednesday night fit the description.
When it was over, Masahiro Tanaka had pitched the Yankees to a 4-2 victory that was witnessed by 28,434 and included a pressure-reducing three-run homer by Mark Teixeira in the fifth.
“He is the guy we have looked toward all year,’’ Derek Jeter said of Tanaka (10-1), who went the distance for the second time this year, allowing two runs and six hits and fanning 11. “Nobody is perfect, but he expects perfection.’’
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Only because nothing comes easy for the Yankees, who have won two straight after losing seven of 10, they had to sweat the ninth, an inning Tanaka started with having thrown 92 pitches.
Instead, Tanaka, who has an impressive 2.02 ERA, gave up a one-out single to LIU product James Jones and a two-run, opposite-field homer to Robinson Cano.
Suddenly, the lead was two runs and David Robertson was throwing in the pen.
So, how did Tanaka respond? By catching Kyle Seager looking at a 94-mph fastball and ending it by blowing a 95-mph heater by a gazing Logan Morrison.
“Obviously, I wasn’t very happy about the home run,’’ Tanaka said through a translator. “At the end, I was pretty satisfied to go all nine innings.’’
Because nobody can predict when CC Sabathia and Michael Pineda will return and with neophytes Vidal Nuno and Chase Whitley in the rotation, every game Tanaka starts needs to be a win.
If Tanaka pitches like he did Wednesday night, he will be very hard to beat.
“It was an unbelievable performance and we needed it,’’ said Teixeira, who swatted a three-run homer off Chris Young in the third that seemingly scraped the back side of the 380-foot sign in right-center.
Teixeira’s homer was the Yankees’ first in five games.
“It was a big home run,’’ Teixeira said of his team-leading 11th homer. “It felt like forever since we had hit a home run and the four-run lead was nice.’’
Jacoby Ellsbury extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a 2-for-4 game. Jeter had two hits and two stolen bases, and Brett Gardner had two hits.
Teixeira’s homer was reassurance his surgically repaired right wrist can provide enough strength to hit balls out.
“I haven’t been driving balls left-handed,’’ said the switch-hitting Teixeira, who hadn’t homered from either side of the plate since June 3 and had one homer since May 18. “Hopefully I can build on it. It’s been a tough couple of weeks.’’
How tough of a year would it have been had Tanaka not taken the Yankees’ seven-year deal worth $155 million?
“Players do this every year,’’ manager Joe Girardi said when asked where the Yankees would be without Tanaka. “He is 10-1 and has one-third of our wins. There are players like that, and he has been that guy.’’
Eventually Tanaka is going to require help and that is likely to come through a trade before the July 31 deal deadline.
But for now, every time Tanaka works, it’s a must-win for the Yankees because he has posted quality starts in all 13 outings and those types of performances can’t be wasted.