Jason Giambi homered, Chien-Ming Wang pitched seven strong innings in 93-degree heat, and the surging Yankees beat the Seattle Mariners 4–2 last night.

Mariano Rivera wriggled out of another jam for his 401st save, securing New York’s eighth victory in nine games. Johnny Damon had three hits and an RBI, and Miguel Cairo hit a tworun single.

Coming off a sweep of the World Series champion Chicago White Sox, the Yankees won their fourth straight and improved to a season-high 18 games above .500.

Wang (10–4) used his heavy sinker to work around three errors by third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who was replaced on defense by Nick Green in the eighth.

New York took advantage of a key Seattle error, sending the last-place Mariners to their ninth loss in 11 games.

Following straight extra-inning losses in Toronto, the Mariners got a solid start from fast-working Jarrod Washburn (4–10) but couldn’t capitalize on four errors by the Yankees in the first meeting between the teams this season.

Rivera gave up a double and a single to start the ninth, putting runners at the corners. Then he struck out pinchhitter Eduardo Perez, got Ichiro Suzuki on a popup, and fanned Willie Bloomquist to draw a roar from the sellout crowd of 53,444.

Wang allowed two runs and seven hits, improving to 7–1 in 11 starts at home. The right-hander has gone at least seven innings in seven of eight starts.

Mike Myers and Scott Proctor combined for a perfect eighth against Seattle’s 4–5–6 hitters. Rivera, who escaped two jams and got six outs for career save no. 400 on Sunday against the White Sox, has converted 22 of 24 chances this season.

Just like Wang, Washburn didn’t get much help from his defense. The Seattle starter yielded four runs — one earned — and nine hits in 6.1 innings.

He dropped to 0–3 in six starts since his last win, a 4–1 victory over his former team, the Los Angeles Angels, on June 9.

Wang retired no. 3 batter Adrian Beltre with the bases to end the fifth.

Giambi drove his 28th homer into the right-field upper deck with two outs in the bottom half, giving the Yankees a 4–1 lead. He leads the team with 76 RBI.

Kenji Johjima hit an RBI single in the sixth, but Yuniesky Betancourt grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Rodriguez’s third error could have extended the seventh inning for Seattle, but Bloomquist got trapped off second base and was tagged in a rundown for the third out.

With two outs in the New York second, Melky Cabrera hit a hard smash at the feet of big first baseman Richie Sexson. The ball got by him and was scored a tough error, leading to three unearned runs against Washburn.