By Matthew T.F. Harrington

OAKLAND, Calif. – Yogi Berra wasn’t at O.Co Coliseum, but one couldn’t help but think of him following the A’s 7-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners. It was, as the Yankee legend famously said, “déjà vu all over again” following a dominant performance from Seattle starter Felix Hernandez.

Hernandez crafted a 6-hit, three-run masterpiece in his first appearance at O.Co since a July 4^th loss that snapped 13 straight starts in Alameda County without a loss. The Phenom of the Pacific Northwest threw 102 pitches, including 72 strikes to handcuff the A’s offense over 8 innings. Where Felix was dominant, A’s starter Jesse Chavez was not.

Chavez (7-14, 4.17 ERA) was tagged early, tagging the righty for 5 runs over the first three innings. Seattle (65-71) chased the Oakland starter with no outs in the third one batter after surrendering the fourth and fifth runs on a Logan Morrison home run to right center. Morrison also plated a run in the first, part of a three-run inning. The M’s collected three hits and two walks in the first frame parade of baserunners.

“It seems like, in games where he doesn’t have his fastball,” said Melvin. “It seems like his cutter, fastball and changeup are pretty close in velocity. He probably only threw 7 or 8 curveballs which means he didn’t have an effective curve.”

Melvin didn’t believe it was an issue of stamina for Chavez, who has spent the majority of the season starting after mostly spot starts and short tenures as a starter in his career.

Arnold Leon, coming on in relief after Chavez’s brief outing, didn’t fare much better. He surrendered a solo home run to Shawn O’Malley, the first of the Mariners left fielder’s major league career, with no outs in the 5^th and was tagged for a second run on a run-scoring base-hit by designated hitter Mark Trumbo in the 6^th. The Mariners added another run in the 7^th on a two-out single off R.J. Alvarez by Kyle Seager.

Hernandez (16-8, 3.65) stifled the Athletics, as he so often has in his career, The King added to his court a 22 career win against the A’s, running his record against the Green and Gold to 22-8 over 39 starts.

Hernandez cruised through the first three innings, allowing only one baserunner, a Stephen Vogt single over the first third of the game while picking up 4 punch-outs.

Oakland finally managed to string together some base hits against the six-time All-Star in the 4th. First baseman Mark Canha launched his 12^th homer of the season, reversing Hernandez’ offering to put Oakland on the board. The M’s ace managed to retire the next two batters, but yielded three-straight two-out hits capped by Billy Butlers two-run single to cut the Mariners lead to 6-3 at the time.

Hernandez would rebound from the hiccup, allowing only one hit over the next 4 innings while striking out another 4 batters. He faced the minimum number of batters over the final 5 frames, doubling off Butler after his 7^th inning single. Joe Beimel allowed a single in the ninth, but kept the A’s off the board to seal Hernandez’ victory.

The A’s (58-78) have now dropped to a season-worst 20 games below the .500 mark. Oakland currently sits four wins back of the Tigers with the lowest mark in the American League. If they want to stay ahead of the Phillies at 53, they’ll need Sunday’s starter Sean Nolin to avoid the sweep against Hisashi Iwakuma.

“We’re basically down 4 of 6 guys from where we started this season,” said Melvin on his rotation after the trade of Scott Kazmir and injuries to starters like Kendall Graveman, Jesse Hahn. “There’s significance to that. For some of the newer guys it’s an opportunity to make a mark.”

Nolin, a piece in the Josh Donaldson trade with Toronto in the offseason, will be making his major league debut against the international sensation who threw a no-hitter in early August. The labor of winning won’t be any lighter on Labor Day with the A’s welcoming the division-leading Astros to O.Co for a three-game set.