M's kids topple Yankees

On Tuesday, Mike Hargrove filled out a lineup card that included four players under 25 years old, six under 30, and none older than 33. It might have been, general manager Bill Bavasi guessed, the Mariners' youngest lineup in 20 years.

Memo to Mom and Dad: Look what they can do. Stagnant in the standings, Seattle is at least growing younger in preparation for its next competitive season, whenever that may be. Against one of the best, oldest teams in baseball, the maturing Mariners played with enough pop and sizzle to stymie the $200 million New York Yankees.

Jose Lopez, a 21-year-old second baseman called up earlier Tuesday, socked two doubles. Jeremy Reed, 24, and Yuniesky Betancourt, 23, also doubled. Ichiro Suzuki, a relative geezer at 31, continued his late-summer surge with his fourth home run in eight games.

And Jeff Harris, the 31-year-old rookie, guided the Mariners into the seventh inning of their 8-3 triumph before 37,773 at Safeco Field.

"It's good experience for us to play the Yankees," said Lopez, who finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs. "Betancourt was good. Reed was good. Mike Morse was good. It was good."

Seattle took leads of 5-0 and 8-2 -- cause for only cautious optimism in these parts after squandering a 4-0 edge the night before. This time, though, the tenderfoots made it stand, with help from the once-itinerant independent leaguer.

While the Mariners fear overexposure could spoil his well-traveled stuff, Harris has continued supporting the notion that he should remain in the rotation, even after Gil Meche's expected return from injury during the upcoming road trip.

Harris stumbled early, walking more hitters by the third inning than in any of his previous big-league outings. He needed almost 80 pitches to get through the fourth inning. It took 112 to get through the night. Still, he managed to steer through one of the game's most fearsome lineups.

Harris missed a few spots -- witness two walks apiece to Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi, and Rodriguez's 406-foot home run to lead off the fifth -- but few could argue with his outing (6 1/3 innings, six hits, three earned runs).

"You guys asked me before if he was awestruck with the Yankees, and I tried to downplay that," Hargrove said afterward. "I don't know he was awestruck, but he was terribly excited. He was flying open. Bad. He couldn't find command of his pitches."

That was, until two mound visits by pitching coach Bryan Price talked him into a groove. After that, Hargrove said, "he threw well."

Well enough, at least, to merit rousing applause when he departed with one out in the seventh inning.

"That felt really good," said Harris, who ranked the night just behind his wedding on his list of favorites. "I'll remember that."

Harris certainly fared better than Shawn Chacon, the Rockies refugee who had been superb in his first seven games (3-1, 1.80 ERA) since joining the Yankees in a July 28 trade. Chacon allowed eight runs on eight hits in six innings -- his worst start for New York.

A five-run second was his undoing. He loaded the bases with none out. Then, with Lopez up for his first big-league at-bat since July 27, he missed badly with a curveball. It skipped away from Jorge Posada for a wild pitch, and Sexson crossed with the game's first run.

Two batters later, Betancourt hit a liner to center, deep enough that Mike Morse could tag and score from third -- only Morse was halfway down the line when Bernie Williams squeezed it. He retreated as third base coach Carlos Garcia fumed.

Those kids.

"I messed up," Morse said.

Somewhere, Hargrove was surely sharpening the finger-pointing daggers he thrust in the general direction of left-hander Matt Thornton's heart on Monday night. Then, about the time Morse had resigned himself to a major-league scolding, Ichiro started his hero routine.

Chacon grooved him a 3-1 breaking ball. Ichiro crushed it. The ball traveled 353 feet, scored three runs, and saved Morse's melon as Seattle took a 5-0 lead.

Ichiro has six home runs this month, his career high in Seattle. With the latest clout, he has homered in back-to-back games for the first time this season. When informed of the feat, he said through interpreter Allen Turner, "I'm going to throw a party tonight."

The Yankees came back, of course. Harris walked the first two batters in the very next inning, Rodriguez and Giambi. They scored, and the lead was only 5-2.

Their work, though, was washed away with one swing. Sent to Triple-A Tacoma on strict orders to discover the right-field grass, the pull-happy Lopez dropped a two-run double into the right-center gap. Sexson and Morse scored to restore the five-run cushion, 7-2. Seattle added another in the inning when Lopez scored on Betancourt's double.

Those kids. Again.