SEATTLE — Brandon Morrow's bid to become only the second pitcher in modern history to throw a no-hitter in his first major league start ended when pinch-hitter Wilson Betemit doubled with two outs in the eighth inning, and the Seattle Mariners held on to beat the New York Yankees 3-1 tonight.

The 24-year-old right-hander, whose 100 previous big league outings were all in relief, blanked the Yankees until Betemit, batting for Jose Molina, lined a clean drive far over right fielder Ichiro Suzuki. The hit scored Hideki Matsui, who had walked with one out on a close 3-2 pitch.

Bobo Holloman of the St. Louis Browns is the lone pitcher since 1900 to throw a no-hitter in his first big league start, doing it against the Philadelphia Athletics on May 6, 1953.

Cincinnati's Bumpus Jones pitched one against Pittsburgh on Oct. 15, 1892, and Ted Breitenstein did it for St. Louis of the American Association against Louisville on Oct. 4, 1891, according the Elias Sports Bureau.

It's been nearly 50 years since the last complete-game no-hitter against the Yankees: The Baltimore Orioles' Hoyt Wilhelm did it on Sept. 20, 1958. Six Houston Astros' pitchers combined to no-hit New York at Yankee Stadium on June 11, 2003, a game in which starter Roy Oswalt left with a strained groin in the second inning.