Things were as bad as could be for the Seattle Mariners just two days ago. That all changed when they sent Felix Hernandez to the mound at Fenway Park.
The 22-year-old right-hander allowed six hits over six innings and remained unscored upon in Boston as the Mariners beat the Red Sox 8-0 on Friday night.
In two career starts in Boston, Hernandez (4-5) is 2-0 and has pitched 15 scoreless innings. On April 11, 2007, he pitched a one-hitter, walking two. The 15 innings represents the longest career scoreless streak at Fenway Park since 1956.
“Felix stepped up and has been pretty good in Fenway Park,” Mariners manager John McLaren said.
And did the Mariners ever need a stopper.
On Wednesday, after a 5-4 home loss to the Los Angeles Angels dropped the Mariners a season-low 18 games under .500, the Seattle locker room was the site of separate outbursts by team president Chuck Armstrong and McLaren. A cross-country trip, a day off and a good pitcher changed the mood drastically.
“(It) was important for me, important for the team,” Hernandez said.
In other AL games on Friday, it was: Cleveland 4, Detroit 2; Kansas City 2, New York 1; Baltimore 6, Toronto 5; Tampa Bay 12, Texas 4; Chicago 10, Minnesota 6; and Los Angeles 3, Oakland 1.
Hernandez won for the second time in as many starts after going seven starts without a win. It was his first road victory since April 16. He walked three and struck out five.
“He did a great job of keeping us off base, and really not letting us get anything together and when we did have something going, he made some pitches when he had to,” Boston’s Sean Casey said.
The Mariners capitalized on some shoddy Red Sox fielding. Three Boston errors, two by starter Bartolo Colon, led to their first three runs.
“We took advantage of some mistakes,” said Mariners first baseman Richie Sexson, who was 3-for-4 with two RBIs. “It feels good. We needed a win. There’s been a lot of negative things surrounding this team the last month or so.”
Colon (3-1) threw a tailor-made double play ball into center field in the first inning, allowing the game’s first run to score.
Colon’s erratic throwing in the third led to the Mariners’ third run. His errant pickoff throw to second base sailed into center field, allowing two runners to advance and Ichiro Suzuki scored on a sacrifice fly by Adrian Beltre.
“It is strange for me to make not only the errors but that many in one game,” said Colon, who lost for the first time in his brief Red Sox career. “However, it’s part of the game. You move on and hopefully the next game it doesn’t happen.”
Suzuki and Jose Vidro both had two RBIs for the Mariners, who won for only the second time in their past 15 road games.
Casey had three hits for the Red Sox, who had a 13-game home winning streak snapped.
Indians 4, Tigers 2
Paul Byrd (3-5) allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings for his 100th career victory and he improved to 9-2 against Detroit. Casey Blake had a two-run double in visiting Cleveland’s three-run fourth.
Justin Verlander (2-9) fell to 1-6 in his past eight starts, giving up three runs and five hits over seven innings.
Royals 2, Yankees 1
Kyle Davies (2-0) gave up one run and seven hits in 6 2-3 innings for Kansas City, which won for the third time in 18 games overall and earned its first road victory since May 18 at Florida. The Royals improved to 2-19 in its past 21 visits to Yankee Stadium – and 6-33 there since the start of the 1998 season.
Darrell Rasner (3-3) allowed nine hits in a career-high eight innings.
Orioles 6, Blue Jays 5
Melvin Mora, Kevin Millar and Adam Jones all homered in Baltimore’s six-run eighth inning. It was the 13th time this season the Orioles have rallied to win after trailing by two or more runs, tying them with Philadelphia for the most in the major leagues.
The Blue Jays, who have lost four of six, blew a five-run lead Thursday in a 9-8 loss to the Yankees when Jason Giambi hit a walk-off homer against closer B.J. Ryan.
Dennis Sarfate (3-1) got the win by retiring one batter in the seventh and George Sherrill closed it out in the bottom of the ninth for his 21st save.
Rays 12, Rangers 4
Scott Kazmir (6-1) allowed two runs and six hits in eight innings to win his career-best sixth straight start. Evan Longoria, B.J. Upton, Dioner Navarro and Eric Hinske all homered for the visiting Rays.
Vicente Padilla (7-3) allowed three runs and five hits in six innings for the Rangers, who had scored eight or more runs in their previous six games.
White Sox 10, Twins 6
Carlos Quentin hit a three-run homer that deflected off right fielder Michael Cuddyer’s glove and Joe Crede went 4-for-4 with two homers for Chicago, which won its fourth straight since a tirade from manager Ozzie Guillen last Sunday about the team’s struggling offense. Quentin hit his 16th homer to cap a six-run fifth inning for Chicago, which had 16 hits.
The visiting Twins had a 3-0 lead early but Nick Blackburn (4-4) couldn’t hold it, allowing eight hits and seven runs in four-plus innings.
Angels 3, Athletics 1
Maicer Izturis homered on the third pitch of the game and the Angels won their season-best sixth straight. Vladimir Guerrero had two hits and an RBI as the Angels snapped Oakland’s four-game winning streak. John Lackey (2-1) took a shutout bid into the seventh but gave up a homer to Jack Cust.
Francisco Rodriguez picked up his major league-leading 25th save in 26 opportunities with a perfect ninth.
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