SEATTLE — The Felix Hernandez back on the mound for the Mariners has yet to look like the ace pitcher Seattle grew accustomed to watching for over the last decade.
And when Hernandez runs into trouble, the game’s outcome for Seattle rests on the shoulders of the offense, which has struggled lately at home and continued to do so on Tuesday. The Mariners (41-44) lost 7-3 in the second game of their series against the Royals (43-40) at Safeco Field, marking Seattle’s sixth straight loss at home.
In his third game back since missing two months due to shoulder inflammation, Hernandez pitched six innings, allowing six runs, one of which was unearned, and six hits.
“We’ve certainly seen (Hernandez) sharper,” manager Scott Servais said. “I think from a how does his arm feel and how the ball’s coming out, I thought it was coming out pretty good early on today.”
Mariners manager Scott Servais discusses his team’s 10-0 win over the Angels
Six of the Royals’ seven runs came in the fourth inning or later.
On Tuesday, Hernandez walked four batters and allowed more runs than he has in any other game this season. He’s pitched eight games this year, but so far Hernandez’s ERA is 5.04. Yet, Hernandez said he’s feeling like himself and that today’s performance was just the result of mechanical issues.
“I felt unbelievable today,” Hernandez said. “I felt really good in the bullpen. I felt really good physically, body-wise. It happens. It’s baseball.”
In their last six home losses, the Mariners have only averaged 2.33 runs per game. In those games, the Mariners are hitting .205 (40-for-195) and .167 (7-for-42) with runners in scoring position. They’ve had 58 strikeouts and 41 runners left on base.
“We’ve got a good offensive team, we know that,” Servais said. “We’ve got guys who are having good years. We’re just in a funk right now and certainly at home, which we were killing it for a long time here at home.”
The Mariners’ only offensive burst on Tuesday came in the first inning when Jean Segura and Danny Valencia scored on a single from Nelson Cruz, who’s back in the starting lineup after being out briefly with a sore knee. Cruz, who has homered 14 times this year but hasn’t done so in the last month, was just shy of hitting a home run.
Seattle’s other run came in the seventh when Carlos Ruiz advanced to third base on an error and then scored an unearned run on a single from Segura, who finished the day with four hits.
For the first time since Aug. 31-Sept. 1, 2013, the Mariners have now gone back-to-back games without recording an extra-base hit. And that, Servais said, could be the key to seeing the offense get back on track.
“It’s a combination of grinding a few more at-bats, getting the walks, getting it going,” Servais said. “Someone hopping a bases-loaded double or a big homer and it kind of takes off and goes from there.”
The Royals finished the day with two home runs — Whit Merrifield on Hernandez’s first pitch of the day and when Mike Moustakas, who will play in the All-Star Game’s Home Run Derby, hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning.
Later in the inning after Moustakas’ homer, a fielding error from Robinson Cano, his fourth of the year, allowed Brandon Moss to score, while an out would have ended the inning.
In the fifth, Salvador Perez’s double scored two more for the Royals. Both batters who scored were on base thanks to walks from Hernandez.
“(The walks) hurt me a little bit,” Hernandez said. “I made a mistake against Moustakas, and I made a mistake against (Perez). Made me pay.”
After a triple from Jorge Bonifacio and a wild pitch in the ninth inning, the Royals scored their seventh and final run of the day. Bonifacio’s hit was the only one Yovani Gallardo allowed in his three innings of relief.
Ben Gamel, who leads the AL with a .332 batting average but will soon be knocked off the list because he will be back to not having enough plate appearances, had gone 0-for-12 in the last three games and was not in the starting lineup on Tuesday. However, Gamel was 1 for 2, coming into the game as a pinch-hitter.
The Mariners have one more game against the Royals and then a four-game home series against the A’s before the All-Star break.
“They know it’s important here — finish on a high note heading into the break,” Servais said. “It’s just not happening right now.”
