It’s Getting Real Hairy for Seattle

NEW YORK —  The box of hair color sat on Lou Piniella’s desk, put there by Norm Charlton, and the Seattle manager joked that he’ll need it if his team plays any more games like this.

If Saturday’s game is any indication, an October matchup between the Mariners and New York Yankees could produce one of the most thrilling playoffs baseball has seen in years.

Former Yankee Jeff Nelson escaped a bases-loaded jam in the eighth inning, making a kick save to deflect a comebacker for the third out. And after giving up a ninth-inning run, Kazuhiro Sasaki stranded the bases loaded as the Mariners nearly squandered a six-run lead but hung on for a thrilling 7-6 victory at Yankee Stadium.

“This is one of the most exciting games we played all year,” said Seattle’s Mike Cameron, who was three for four with a walk.

Seattle, which avoided what would have been its first three-game losing streak this season, battered Ted Lilly for seven runs in the first two innings, probably knocking the rookie out of the Yankees’ rotation.

Going into today’s series finale, Seattle (88-35) has yet to lose a road series.

“It’s getting harder for us. These teams we play want to beat us,” Piniella said. “It’s been a while now.”

New York (73-50), whose four-game winning streak was stopped, saw its American League East lead cut to five games over second-place Boston.

Nelson, who helped the Yankees win four World Series titles in five years, was booed lustily when he entered and gave up a one-out double by Shane Spencer that put runners on second and third.

The reliever struck out Alfonso Soriano, loaded the bases with a walk to Chuck Knoblauch, then got out of it when he deflected Deter Jeter’s comebacker to third baseman David Bell, who threw to first for the out.