SEATTLE –Day games have been kind to Seattle ace Felix Hernandez for most of the past 18 months, but his performance Wednesday made the Mariners’ pitcher look like he was blinded by the daylight.
Jul 29, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez (34) walks to the dugout after being relieved against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Safeco Field. Photo Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
Two of Hernandez’s first three pitches were tagged for base hits, and his seventh pitch resulted in a two-run single from Arizona first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. By the time Diamondbacks catcher Welington Castillo’s home-run ball cleared the fence in left-center for a one-out, two run homer and a 4-0 Seattle deficit, it was quite clear that this was no typical day at the office for Hernandez.
Hernandez carried an 8-1 record and 1.53 ERA in day games since 2014 into the outing, then he struggled through one of his worst outings of the season. He allowed 12 hits and seven runs over 6 2/3 innings.
“I was making mistakes, that’s all,” Hernandez said, shrugging off the performance. “Balls that were (supposed to be) on the corners were in the middle of the plate, and they put good swings on them.”
Hernandez had allowed just nine runs over 46 innings of his first seven day starts this season before getting hammered for four runs in the first, and seven overall, in Wednesday’s outing. Along the way, Castillo became the second player this season — Oakland shortstop Marcus Semien was the first — to hit two home runs off Hernandez in the same game.
Hernandez became the second consecutive Seattle starter to get pounded by an Arizona team that piled up 27 hits and 16 runs over the final two games of the series.
“They’re an aggressive club,” Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said. “You’ve got to make quality pitches, and we just didn’t do it the last couple games.”
