By MIKE FITZPATRICK
AP Baseball Writer

NEW YORK(AP) -- When he finally connected, Russell Branyan made it
count.

Branyan rebounded from a frustrating string of strikeouts with a
mammoth homer over Monument Park, and the Seattle Mariners beat
CC Sabathia 8-4 on Thursday night to snap the New York Yankees'
seven-game winning streak.

"Majestic," Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said.

Franklin Gutierrez also homered and Ichiro Suzuki hit a two-run
double that was misplayed by center fielder Melky Cabrera. Chris
Woodward added two RBIs as Seattle won in the Bronx for the
first time since Sept. 3, 2007, ending a 10-game road losing
streak against the Yankees.

"Our guys are learning how to win," reliever Miguel Batista
said.

Branyan launched his 20th homer in the ninth inning, a two-run
shot off right-hander Alfredo Aceves that made it 8-4. It was
the first drive at the new Yankee Stadium to carom off the
tinted-glass windows of the big sports bar in straightaway
center, above Monument Park.

It also ended a rough stretch for Branyan, who struck out seven
straight times in two nights - all against lefties - before
drawing a walk from Sabathia in the sixth.

"I know it's just a matter of time before I come out of
something like that," Branyan said. "In the grand scheme of
things, it's just two days. If I can limit my bad at-bats to two
days, I'll take it."

Seattle avoided a three-game sweep and handed Sabathia (7-5) his
second loss in 11 starts.

"It was frustrating just because we were playing so well,"
Sabathia said. "It was just one of those days when I left some
pitches up."

Gutierrez had three hits for the third time in five games. Five
of his eight homers have come in the past 15 games.

Batista (5-2) pitched two hitless innings to win in relief of
ill starter Jason Vargas, who lasted four innings with flu
symptoms. Wakamatsu appreciated the effort. He said Vargas was
vomiting until about 3 a.m. Thursday.

Mark Lowe worked two scoreless innings before David Aardsma
finished. Seattle's bullpen yielded three hits in five scoreless
innings.

"A lot of unsung heroes today," Wakamatsu said.

Hideki Matsui homered and drove in three runs for New York,
while Robinson Cano had three hits.

The first pitch was delayed 36 minutes due to threatening
storms, though they never brought rain. Sabathia entered 6-1
with a 2.82 ERA in his previous 10 outings, but he struggled
right from the start.

Suzuki opened the game with a line-drive double off Mark
Teixeira's glove at first base. He stole third and scored on
Jose Lopez's soft groundout between the mound and first.

It marked the first time the Yankees trailed since the top of
the sixth inning June 24 in Atlanta.

Seattle began the second with three well-struck hits off
Sabathia, including Gutierrez's leadoff homer. Woodward, subbing
for injured third baseman Adrian Beltre, had a sacrifice fly.

Nick Swisher and Matsui hit sacrifice flies in the bottom half,
cutting it to 3-2. Suzuki dropped Matsui's waist-high liner
toward the right-field line, the third error this season for a
player who has won eight consecutive Gold Gloves since arriving
from Japan.

Moments later, as Suzuki lined up an inning-ending flyout,
screaming fans tried to rattle him. After making the catch,
Suzuki faked flipping the ball into the stands, drawing boos
from the crowd of 46,142.

Woodward hit an RBI single in the fourth and Suzuki's double
over Cabrera's head made it 6-2. Cabrera got a bad jump on the
ball and it appeared he didn't realize how deep it was hit until
it was too late.

"It looked like Melky kind of broke in on that ball," Yankees
manager Joe Girardi said. "When you're playing so well, you're
surprised when you're not so crisp."

Matsui's two-run homer in the bottom half trimmed it to 6-4.

Sabathia was pulled with the bases loaded and two outs in the
sixth. He allowed six runs and 10 hits, striking out eight.

NOTES: Teixeira made a throwing error in the ninth, his first in
107 games since Aug. 19, 2008, with the Los Angeles Angels. ...
The Mariners rested DH-OF Ken Griffey Jr.