YANKEES TAKE A CC CRUISE

Lefty rights his ship, shuts down Mariners

SEATTLE – Joe Girardi insists the Yankees aren’t going down without a fight. The same can apparently be said for CC Sabathia.

The big lefty had his best start in more than two months, holding the Mariners to one run over seven innings in a 5-1 Yankees victory at Safeco Field.

Sabathia allowed three hits and one walk, striking out seven batters in the win, lifting his record to 8-10.

“It feels good,” Sabathia said. “We’re trying to win every game, so to be a part of that feels good.

“You’re always worried about the next game. I’ve been good at that in my career. I’ll be ready to go five days from now.”

Jacoby Ellsbury provided the big hit for the Yankees, belting a two-run homer off starter Taijuan Walker in the fifth inning.

The win was the third in five games for the Yankees on the road trip, meaning a win Wednesday afternoon would send them home with a winning record on their West Coast swing.

Masahiro Tanaka gets the start in the series finale against Seattle righthander Hisashi Iwakuma.

The win allowed the Yankees to keep pace in both the American League East and wild card races, leaving them seven and five games back, respectively. Despite the sizeable deficits, Girardi isn’t ready to concede anything with 37 games remaining on the schedule.

“A lot of the teams ahead of us, we’re playing a lot; so we’re still in it,” Girardi said before the game. “It’s unfortunate we’ve lost the last two games by a couple runs each game, but we’re still in it and we’re going to play for it. There’s no quit in our team.”

After opening the season 5-4 with a 2.20 ERA over his first 11 starts, Sabathia has struggled, going 2-6 with a 6.78 ERA in his previous 11 outings.

“I have not seen a huge difference,” Girardi said before the start, citing a few untimely mistakes and the Yankees’ poor play in the field as the biggest factors. “It comes down to a pitch or two here and there.

“For him, it’s eliminating the mistakes and us playing better defense.”

The Yankees capitalized on a Mariners mistake in the second as Aaron Judge reached on Kyle Seager’s fielding error, moved to second on Aaron Hicks’ walk and scored on Ronald Torreyes’ RBI double, giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead. Sabathia retired his first seven batters, but Seattle tied the game in the third as Ketel Marte singled in Leonys Martin, who tripled into the right-field corner with one out.

Martin’s ball appeared to be headed into the seats for a groundrule double but stayed in the field of play, momentarily puzzling Judge as Martin cruised into third base.

Ellsbury, who struck out with runners at second and third to end the second inning, made up for it in the fifth. After a leadoff double by Torreyes, Ellsbury slugged a two-run homer to right-center, giving the Yankees a 3-1 lead.

Sabathia worked around a leadoff walk in the fifth, retiring the next three hitters to post a zero.

He followed with a perfect sixth, walking off the mound with a pitch count of 90.

After Judge’s sixth-inning sac fly pushed the lead to 4-1, Girardi decided to send Sabathia back for the seventh, an inning he hadn’t seen since July 26 or finished since June 28.

Sabathia retired the middle of the Mariners lineup on 11 pitches, ending his night having sat down the final nine batters he faced.

“I thought he had a good breaking ball tonight, a good sinker and a good changeup,” Girardi said. “They (can) hit the ball out of the ballpark and he did a really nice job. To give us seven innings was outstanding.

“We know what a competitor CC is. It’s been frustrating for him. I believe he’s pitched a lot better than his ERA.”