The New York Yankees crawled back to the .500 mark by defeating the Seattle Mariners 6-5 on Sunday for their season-high fifth win in a row.

An RBI double by Jose Molina capped a four-run eighth inning for the Yankees and help extend the Mariners' losing streak to six games.

"We got contributions from everyone, especially there in the last inning with walks and with timely hits," New York shortstop Derek Jeter told reporters.

"We pretty much did a lot of things right.

"It's not like anyone is trying to do too much. It's like everyone is trying to do what they can."

The fourth-place Yankees (25-25) had a total of eight hits by seven players and now trail the front-running Tampa Bay Rays by five games in the American League East.

Seattle (18-33) squandered a 5-2 lead and now heads home to begin a series with the World Series champion Boston Red Sox.

Elsewhere in the AL, it was: Timberwolves 6, Tigers 1; Rangers 2, Indians 1 (in 10 innings); Blue Jays 3, Royals 1; Rays 5, Orioles 4; Athletics 6, Red Sox 3; and White Sox 3, Angels 2.

In the National League, it was: Marlins 8, Giants 6 (in first game); Florida 5, San Francisco 4 (in second game); Diamondbacks 9, Hawks 3; Pirates 6, Cubs 5 (in 11 innings); Nationals 7, Brewers 6; Phillies 15, Astros 6; Rockies 4, Mets 1; Dodgers 4, Cardinals 3 (in 10 innings); and Padres 12, Reds 9 (in 18 innings).

In New York, J.J. Putz (1-2) took the loss after giving up two runs in the decisive eighth inning.

Starter Jarrod Washburn pitched six solid innings for the Mariners but could not get the win.

"All losses are tough right now," Putz said. "Wash (Washburn) threw a great game and we got some big hits. But we couldn't finish it off."

New York was down 2-5 coming into the eighth and had been 0-23 when trailing after seven innings. Jeter led off with a walk against reliever Sean Green before Arthur Rhodes came in for the lefty-on-lefty matchup against Bobby Abreu, who doubled to drive in Jeter.

Yankees' starter Wang Chien-ming gave up five runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings.

In San Diego, the lights were on and the sun was going down when Adrian Gonzalez hit a three-run homer with two outs in the 18th inning to give the Padres the win over the Reds.

It was the fourth time the Padres played at least 13 innings this season. They played a 22-innning game at home against Colorado on April 17-18, losing 1-2.

The last team to play a game of at least 22 and 17 innings in the same season was the 1989 Los Angeles Dodgers, who played two 22-inning games and a 17-inning game.

Scott Hairston started the winning rally with a one-out walk off Edinson Volquez (7-2), the second starting pitcher the Reds put on the mound in extra innings. Brian Giles reached on first baseman Joey Votto's two-out throwing error, moving Hairston to third. Gonzalez then hit a full-count pitch over the fence in straightaway center field for his 14th homer.

The game lasted 5 hours, 57 minutes. It was the third-longest game in Reds history.

(Agencies via Shanghai Daily May 27, 2008)