Mariners deny Yankees playoff bid

SEATTLE - Joe Girardi has been insisting his Yankees will need to go out and earn their playoff spot in the final two weeks of the regular season.

After stumbling twice in Seattle, look where New York is with two weeks left in the season: one win from clinching a postseason spot.

The Yankees' next chance to wrap up the long-expected playoff ticket comes Monday night against the Los Angeles Angels.

Ken Griffey Jr. drove in a season-high four runs with a double and three-run homer, and the Mariners put the Yankees' postseason party on hold with a 7-1 win on Sunday, taking two of three in the series.

"These are important games this week. They are important at any point," Girardi said. "As I said all along, I think this will go right down to the end and nobody is going to hand you the thing."

The Yankees can secure their 14th playoff berth in 15 years with a victory at the Los Angeles Angels on Monday night or a Texas loss at Oakland. The Yankees lead the AL East by five games over Boston with 12 to play.

Seeing Andy Pettitte throw on Monday will be an important step in the postseason preparations for the Yankees. He was scratched from his last start with a tired pitching shoulder and the Yankees hope his final couple of starts before the playoffs show that their most experienced pitcher is prepared for postseason pressure.

"Our guys are frustrated that we aren't winning more games, but everything has went really, really well the second half," Girardi said. "We've run into a bump and we've got to straighten it out."

One of New York's biggest remaining playoff questions only became more vexing on Sunday when Joba Chamberlain struggled from the start and barely made it through three innings.

Chamberlain (8-6) gave up seven runs and six hits, including the double and homer by Griffey, making him the 405th pitcher to surrender a long ball to the aging Mariners' star. Girardi said after the game that he expects Chamberlain to be the Yankees' No. 4 starter in the playoffs, but needs to get the burly right-hander back on track before October arrives.

"I let my teammates down. It was pretty much embarrassing what I did, not being able to pick my team up and get out of here with a series win," Chamberlain said.

Chamberlain gave up consecutive two-out doubles in the first to Jose Lopez and Griffey, then allowed a dribbling grounder to center by Adrian Beltre to score Griffey for a 2-0 Seattle lead.

In the second, Chamberlain had a chance to escape the inning with just two runs, getting ahead of Griffey in the count 1-2. He tried sneaking a down-and-in fastball past Griffey, but the veteran slugger was waiting and dropped the barrel of the bat for his 627th career homer and 16th this season.

"When (Griffey) hits a ball like he did today, you don't see age," Seattle manager Don Wakamatsu said. "That's a beautiful swing."