Well, nobody said it would last and after the Twins rolled into town and took three games, the Mariners went from first place to a losing record in a hurry. And to make it worse, Felix Hernandez is going to miss at least a couple of starts with his elbow injury.
Tuesday was the worst beating with Jeff Weaver having another rough start. He gave up seven runs on ten hits and a walk with three strikeouts in six innings. Jose Lopez finished with two hits and he both scored and drove in a run in the 11-2 loss.
Yesterday was the scariest because of Felix Hernandez leaving the game in the first inning after calling for the trainer. It looks like a strain and Felix will be shut down for five days to see if that helps. In total, it’s expected that he’ll miss two or three starts. Anyway, Hernandez gave up three runs and Jake Woods two as the Twins scored all of their runs in the first two frames. The Mariners tried to come back but they fell a run short. Richie Sexson hit a three run homer in the 5-4 loss.
Today’s game wasn’t as close as the 6-5 record indicated because the Mariners scored three in the ninth. Jarrod Washburn took the loss and he gave up four runs in 6 1/3 innings. Raul Ibanez was the hitting star. He homered and drove in four of the Mariners five runs. The other run came on a solo homerun by Yuniesky Betancourt.
The Mariners face another struggling team next with three against the Angels in Anaheim. Miguel Batista starts tomorrow and hopefully he can right the ship.