Seattle, WA (Sports Network) - Felix Hernandez came in red hot, and remained
that way after solving his home struggles against the New York Yankees.
The 26-year-old Venezuelan fired 7 1/3 innings of two-run ball, outdueling
fellow countryman and childhood idol Freddy Garcia, as the Seattle Mariners
edged the Yankees, 4-2, in the middle installment of a three-game set.
It was a rough loss for the Yankees, who will be without star third baseman
Alex Rodriguez. He's headed to the disabled list with a fracture of his left
hand.
Rodriguez was drilled on the hand by Hernandez in the eighth inning. Rodriguez
was the third and final hit batsmen by Hernandez in a span of five batters.
"He's got a non-displaced fracture," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "Until
Dr. Ahmad sees him I won't comment...He's been swinging the bat really good
too."
Hernandez (9-5) fanned four, scattered four hits and walked three for Seattle,
which has won six of its last nine games.
The right-hander is 5-0 with a minuscule 1.49 ERA over his last eight outings.
He came in with a 2-3 mark and a 4.43 ERA versus the Yankees at home as
opposed to a 4-2 record and a 2.49 ERA against them in the Bronx.
Tom Wilhemsen struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth to notch his 11th save of the
year.
Garcia (4-4) retired the last 15 batters he saw, struck out eight and
surrendered three runs on five hits for New York, which has dropped five of
its last six.
Garcia, who spent the first five-plus years of his career with the Mariners,
is 5-4 against his former club with a 5.08 ERA in 11 starts.
In his second game with the Yankees, Ichiro Suzuki went 1-for-3.
Both teams traded runs in the opening frame as Curtis Granderson launched a
solo shot to right in the top half and Michael Saunders smacked a blast to
right in the home half.
Seattle, though, plated two in the third. Brendan Ryan began the frame with a
single and after Dustin Ackley flied out, Saunders' base hit to right put
runners on the corners with one away.
Jesus Montero fisted a single to right, plating Ryan, and John Jaso lifted a
sacrifice fly to center to bring home Saunders, giving the Mariners a 3-1
advantage.
The Yankees got a run back in the eighth on Mark Teixeira's sacrifice fly to
center, but Seattle answered in the bottom half to regain its two-run margin.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Kyle Seager's infield single brought home
Ackley to make it 4-2.
Game Notes
Granderson's round-tripper was his 27th of the season...The Yankees were 2-
for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranded seven, while Seattle
finished 2-for-3 with RISP and left five men on base...Jaso had his 10-game
home hitting streak snapped.
The Sports Network