It was a night of streaks: The Yankees snapped their four-game losing skid, in the process ending the Mariners' eight-game winning streak, but couldn't keep Ichiro Suzuki off the bases, as the rookie phenom extended his hitting streak to a league-high 23 games. It was the Yankees' first win in four tries against Seattle this season.

Every New York starter except DH Robert Perez had at least one hit; four Yankees had three or more hits. Each member of Seattle's starting lineup collected at least one hit.

"Obviously, we needed to break out because we didn't pitch very well," said Yankees manager Joe Torre. "When you pitch the way we did tonight, you can't wait for the ninth inning to come."

The Yankees jumped out to a quick lead, putting up four runs in the top of the opening frame. After back-to-back singles by Alfonso Soriano and Derek Jeter, Seattle starter John Halama walked Paul O'Neill to load the bases. Bernie Williams, in his first game back following his father's funeral, grounded into a double play, plating Soriano for the first run. After a Tino Martinez single, David Justice lined the first pitch he saw over the right-center-field wall for his seventh home run of the season.

The hit extended Justice's hitting streak to seven games after a brutal slump that saw his average drop to .223 just eight days ago. Justice went 3-for-5, driving in three runs to lift his average to .257.

With a four-run lead before he took the mound, Yankees starter Ted Lilly achieved an impressive task right away, retiring Suzuki on a pop-up to Soriano. But once again, poor defense would hurt New York, as Jeter couldn't handle Stan Javier's grounder for his eighth error of the season. The mishap would cost the Yankees, as Edgar Martinez drove Javier home with a double down the left-field line, putting Seattle on the board.

After retiring John Olerud, Lilly allowed three consecutive singles, bringing two more Seattle runs home, as the first inning ended with the Yankees up 4-3.

The Yankees added another run in the top of the second, but Seattle tied it at 5-5 in the bottom of the inning, chasing Lilly from the game after he pegged Olerud in the helmet. That inning was also significant as Suzuki led it off with a single, stretching his hitting streak.

Ramiro Mendoza entered the game, bringing the tying run home with a wild pitch, scoring Javier from third base. The two teams had combined for 10 runs on 12 hits in the first two innings, quite different from the pitching duels that the Yankees had with the Oakland A's over the past three days.

Lilly, making his fifth start, allowed five runs (two earned) in just 1 1/3 innings, giving up five hits and two walks.

"No question that Lilly did not have a good outing," said Torre. "They took advantage of him early and were able to stay in the ballgame that way."

New York chased Halama from the game after back-to-back singles by Jorge Posada and Scott Brosius to start the inning. Reliever Brett Tomko walked DH Robert Perez to load the bases, and Seattle's troubles were just beginning.

Jeter grounded a ball to second baseman Bret Boone, whose throw to second sailed into left field, allowing all three baserunners to score on the error. With two outs, Williams singled, bringing Martinez to the plate with two runners on. Martinez hammered a 1-0 pitch to right field, his seventh home run of the season. New York led 11-5 after four innings.

"I knew I didn't have a chance to get a double play," said Boone. "But I wanted to keep another runner out of scoring position. It wasn't a difficult throw for me, I just made a bad throw and I feel bad about it. We have been able to keep those kinds of mistakes to a minimum this season."

Martinez was 4-for-5 with three runs scored and four RBIs, his first four-hit game of the year. He now leads New York with 30 RBIs, 30 runs scored and is second with a .317 average. Brosius, who was 3-for-5, tops the Yankees with a .321 mark.

"They kept coming back, but that didn't surprise us," said the Yankees' Martinez. "They have been playing great baseball and we know they play all nine innings."

Halama went three-plus innings, surrendering seven runs (six earned) on eight hits and one walk. Neither he nor Lilly struck out a batter in the game.

"I was just all over the place," said Halama. "I didn't throw anything where I wanted to and I wasn't getting ahead of the hitters at all. I would try to throw pitches down and away, the way I was supposed to, and didn't do it."

The Mariners, who entered the game with a Major League-best record of 31-9, refused to go quietly, scoring three runs in the fifth, the big blow a two-run double by Javier, cutting New York's lead to 11-8. The Yankees responded in the sixth, as Justice and Posada each knocked in another run to lift New York's lead to 13-8.

"We had some good at-bats, especially against Halama. He tries to throw around the strike zone and we made him throw strikes and had some success," said Torre. "Tino had a wonderful night, and so did Justice. And (Bernie) Williams had some good at-bats considering he hasn't been here all week."

Seattle would score two unearned runs off Yankees right-hander Brian Boehringer, who would hold a 13-10 lead for New York heading into the ninth inning. The Yankees added another run in the ninth, handing the ball to closer Mariano Rivera in the ninth in a non-save situation.

Rivera allowed a single in the ninth, but retired Suzuki to end the ballgame, snapping New York's losing streak and helping the Yankees defeat Seattle for the first time in 2001. New York's 14 runs were the most allowed by the Mariners in a single game this year.

Mendoza (3-1) allowed three runs over 4 2/3 innings of relief. Halama took the loss, falling to 3-4.

The Yankees, who lead the AL in stolen bases with 47, were held without a steal. Seattle tied a team record with five steals in the game, including two double-steals.

New York's 19 hits was one shy of their season-high, when they had 20 against the Blue Jays in an April 8 win over Toronto.

Suzuki was 3-for-6 with three runs scored, two RBIs and two stolen bases, taking the Major League lead with 15. Suzuki stretched his streak of multihit games to seven, matching the Seattle record held by Ken Griffey Jr. and Joey Cora. With a hit on Saturday, Suzuki can match the Mariners' record streak of 24 games, which Cora achieved in 1987.

"The only way to beat them is to get 27 outs," said New York's Martinez. "There is a reason why they have won so many games. They don't give up. We needed to win this game, period. It didn't matter how we won it."

The series continues on Saturday when Orlando Hernandez guns for his first win of the season against Seattle's Jamie Moyer.