Photo credit: @Mariners

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s knew that they were in for a tussle Tuesday night as they had to face their nemesis, Felix “King Felix” Hernandez. The Seattle Mariners’ big righty has owned the A’s over the years as he entered the game with a lifetime record of 25-10 against them. The A’s beat Hernandez in Oakland on April 15th, but they did not have any pixie dust working for them in Seattle. Hernandez went six-plus innings and gave up three hits and three runs. The A’s Andrew Triggs took the loss as he gave up six hits and four runs in 4 2/3 innings of work. His record is now 2-1 for the year. The Mariners won the first game of the three-game series 6-3.

The A’s Jed Lowrie gave his team an early lead in the top of the first when he blasted his seventh home run of the year to right field. The Mariners tied the game in the bottom of the second. Kyle Seager doubled to start the rally. He tagged and went to third when Mitch Haniger flew out. Mariners’ catcher Mike Zunino followed with a double to drive in Seager.

The Mariners got to Triggs in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Dee Gordon singled. He went to second when Triggs uncorked a wild pitch. Triggs walked Mariners’ shortstop Jean Segura to put men on at first and second. Triggs retired the next hitter but could not get by designated hitter Nelson Cruz. Cruz hit the pitch 410 feet and ended Triggs’ night. The Mariners lead 4-1 after five.

The Mariners added a run in the sixth, and the A’s came back and put two on the board in the seventh. Hernandez started the seventh, but had to come out after he walked Khris Davis and gave up a double to Matt Olson to put men on at second and third with no out. M’s manager Scott Servais brought in Nick Vincent to pitch. Vincent struck out Matt Chapman for the first out. Mark Canha reached on an infield single to drive in Davis with the A’s second run of the night. Matt Olson went to third, and he scored when Chad Pinder grounded out. The Mariners finished the scoring in the bottom of the eighth when they added an insurance run. The Mariners win 6-3.

Game Notes and Stats: The A’s drop to 14-15, while the Mariners improve to 17-11. The Mariners have won three in a row and six of the last seven. The Mariners are now just 1 1/2 games behind the Houston Astros for first place in the AL West. The Astros lost to the Yankees 4-0 earlier in the evening.

Dee Gordon had five hits in five trips to the plate. Nelson Cruz continued to pound Oakland as he hit his sixth big fly in the fifth to put the M’s in the lead for good.

The line score for Oakland was three runs on four hits and no errors. Seattle’s line was six runs, nine hits, and no errors. M’s closer Edwin Diaz picked his 12th save of the year. Diaz leads the majors in that department.

Up Next: Game 2 of the series will be played Wednesday night in Seattle. The A’s will send lefty Brett Anderson to the mound to handle the pitching chores. Anderson, who broke in with Oakland in 2009 at age 29, was recalled from Nashville where he had a record of 1-1 and an ERA of 1.89. Anderson pitched for the Chicago Cubs and Toronto Blue Jays last year. Lefty James Paxton (1-1, ERA 5.12) will go for Seattle. Game time will be at 7:05 pm PT.