After a few tough starts for Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez, he returned to form as the Mariners closed out the series with a win at home against the Oakland A's.
The King was on his game, but it got off to a rocky start as A's center fielder Billy Burns hit the first pitch he saw out of the park for a leadoff home run, giving Oakland an early 1-0 lead.
After that pitch, Hernandez was nearly untouchable from there on out. He lasted eight innings giving up just two runs on three hits, while striking out seven and walking just one. It was his 21st career win versus the A's, which is the most wins for Felix against a single opponent, and it was his 14th quality start of the season which is tied for the most in the majors.
At the plate, the Mariners got the bats going early and nearly chased Oakland starter Chris Bassitt in the first inning as they posted a four spot. They got out to an early 4-1 lead and even batted around.
Bassitt struggled early and lasted just 4.1 innings giving up four runs on seven hits, while striking out just one and walking five. The A's ended up using six pitchers in this one.
It stayed at 4-1 until the sixth inning when Nelson Cruz cashed in with one of his three RBI on a single to center that scored Ketel Marte to make it 6-1.
Marte has been a force to be reckoned with at the top of the lineup lately and Wednesday was another example of that. He was 2-for-5 with two runs scored, bumping his average up to .333 with an OPS of .830 from the leadoff spot. He is holding down the shortstop position and is producing nicely for this Mariners ball club.
Seattle added on in the seventh with an RBI groundout by Jesus Sucre, and the eighth was when the Mariners put it out of reach. Kyle Seager and Nelson Cruz hit back-to-back solo home runs to make it 8-2, giving Felix and the Mariners plenty of insurance.
Oakland had just three hits off of Felix, but two were solo home runs. The aforementioned homer from Burns got them started, and then in the seventh Brett Lawrie hit one which was part of his two-hit game (one hit off of reliever Vidal Nuno). Billy Butler also checked in with a hit.
As for the Mariners at the plate, Marte and Logan Morrison checked in with two hits each, while Cruz crushed his MLB leading 39th home run apart of his 3-for-4 day with three RBI. He also extended his on-base streak to 36 straight games.
With Wednesday's win, the Mariners have now won two-straight games and picked up the series win over Oakland. Seattle heads out on the road to face the Chicago White Sox on Thursday with Roenis Elias making his return to the rotation in place of Vidal Nuno. Oakland heads down to Arizona where they will begin a series against the Diamondbacks with Cy Young candidate Sonny Gray getting the start for the A's.
WP: Felix Hernandez (15-8, 3.66 ERA)
LP: Chris Bassitt (1-6, 2.82 ERA)