Irabu Rebounds in All-Japan Matchup

Maybe the familiarity of pitching against another Japanese pitcher was just what Hideki Irabu needed.

Irabu gave up four hits in seven innings to outduel Mac Suzuki in the first matchup of Japanese starters in major league history, giving the New York Yankees a 10-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night.

“We both crossed the ocean and sacrificed a lot to come here,” Irabu said through a translator. “I knew there was a lot of interest in Japan for this game. That was a motivating factor tonight.”

Derek Jeter went three for four with a three-run homer and five runs batted in to tie his career high for New York, which improved to 11-1 at home this season.

After being hammered for six runs in 4 1/3 innings in his first start of the season Sunday at Kansas City, Irabu complained he was still having trouble getting used to the higher mounds in the United States even though it’s his third year in the majors.

Irabu (1-0) had no complaints against Seattle. He walked none and struck out five, giving up only a solo homer to Russ Davis in the seventh and winning for the first time since Sept. 22 against Cleveland.

Suzuki (0-1) was just as tough until the Yankees broke through with three runs in the fifth. Jorge Posada singled with one out and Suzuki hit Chad Curtis with a 1-2 pitch with two outs, bringing up Jeter, who hadn’t homered since April 21.

Jeter hit a 1-1 pitch 418 feet to dead center for his sixth homer, giving New York a 3-0 lead.

Suzuki gave up seven runs--four earned--and five hits in 5 1/3 innings.

AROUND THE LEAGUE / Knoblauch May Return Soon

Perhaps emboldened by a positive medical report, Chuck Knoblauch finally caught a replay Friday of Corey Koskie’s rolling slide into second base a day earlier in Minnesota that nearly debilitated Knoblauch.

Knoblauch, limping around the Yankee clubhouse, received two hours of treatment on the leg and ankle. He hopes to play sometime this weekend, but Manager Don Zimmer said Tuesday might be a more realistic goal.

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A $75-million bid to buy the Kansas City Royals can win approval if it is reworked with more money and fewer investors, baseball officials said. Miles Prentice, a New York lawyer who has pursued the team for almost two years, put together the deal with 40 to 50 investors, including some of Kansas City’s most prominent families. . . . Dallas Star President Jim Lites was given the same job with the Texas Rangers, as owner Tom Hicks tries to merge the clubs’ front offices.