KING THRONE FOR BIG LOSS
Tex, Yanks slam Felix as Pineda cruises
SEATTLE — The King’s court was out in full force Monday night, but the Yankees made Felix Hernandez look like a jester.
Mark Teixeira’s grand slam highlighted a five-run fifth inning against King Felix, lifting the Yankees to a 7-2 win over the Mariners to begin a three-game set at Safeco Field.
Michael Pineda was the beneficiary of the run support, beating the team that traded him to the Yankees more than three years ago. Pineda allowed two runs over sixplus innings to pick up the victory in his first-ever meeting with the Mariners.
Hernandez entered the game with an 8-1 record and 1.91 ERA, positioning himself once again as the most dominant pitcher in the American League. He ended the night at 8-2 with a 2.63 ERA. Pineda is putting together a pretty good season himself, improving to 7-2 and lowering his ERA to 3.33.
King Felix looked unhittable early, retiring the Yankees in order in each of the first three innings on a total of 21 pitches. The Yankees then proceeded to score seven runs over the next two innings.
“His movement was tremendous,” Joe Girardi said of Hernandez. “Maybe it was moving too much and he lost command of the strike zone. We made him throw a lot of pitches in those two innings. It was big.”
For Pineda, it was his first trip back to Seattle since the Mariners traded him to the Yankees in January 2012, leading some to wonder how he would handle the emotion of the night.
“I think he handled it really well,” Girard said.
If there were any nerves or extra excitement on Pineda’s part, it was difficult to tell.
Pineda blanked the Mariners on four hits and one walk over the first six innings, striking out nine. Things fell apart for him in the seventh as he allowed two runs and left with two runners on base, but the bullpen finished off Seattle to preserve the starter’s seventh win.
“He’s been important,” Girardi said of Pineda. “He’s been a guy that you’ve been able to count on every five days to give you an opportunity to win a game.”
The offense, which looked lost against Hernandez during the first three innings, gave Pineda plenty of support, thumping the King for seven runs in the fourth and fifth, four of them coming on Teixeira’s grand slam, his 15th home run of the season.
“Felix is really good, but so is Mark,” Girardi said. “It’s quite a battle when they match up.
“It doesn’t happen very often to Felix. He’s pitched very well against over the years. So it was nice to get seven runs in two innings.”
Pineda worked around three hits in the first three frames, holding Seattle off the board as the scoreless game moved to the fourth.
The Yankees then erupted the second time through the order, starting with Brett Gardner’s leadoff single to left. Chase Headley saw seven pitches before singling to center, putting runners at the corners.
A wild pitch scored Gardner for the game’s first run, then Hernandez walked both Alex Rodriguez and Teixeira, loading the bases with nobody out. Brian McCann grounded into a double play, though it still scored a run to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead.
Pineda struck out three of the four batters he faced in the bottom of the inning, getting his offense back into the dugout.
He would stay there for a while, enjoying every moment of the next inning.
The Yankees went back to work against Hernandez, but this time it was the bottom of the lineup starting the rally. Stephen Drew led off with a walk, then Ramon Flores singled and Gardner walked, loading the bases.
Headley lifted a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0, then A-Rod singled to load the bases. Teixeira – who had five career home runs against Hernandez – drilled a 2-0 sinker over the wall in right-center, blowing the game open with his ninth career grand slam.
King Felix remained in the game for two more batters before Carlos Beltran doubled with two out, bringing Seattle manager Lloyd McClendon out of the dugout to lift the former Cy Young winner.
The 7-0 lead was more than enough for Pineda, who struck out two more batters during a perfect fifth, then repeated the feat in the sixth, fanning both Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz.
Seattle put together a single, triple and double to start the seventh against Pineda, who then issued a walk to end his night after two runs had scored. But Justin Wilson got a strikeout and a double play to escape without any more damage, then Dellin Betances and Chasen Shreve finished off the final two innings.
“You look at Felix, he’s as good as it gets when it comes to being an ace of a staff, understanding what his job is and getting deep into games,” Girardi said before the game. “It’s something that I’m sure Michael has paid close attention to and is trying to learn.”
On Monday, he showed that he learned those lessons well.