San Diego, CA – Felix Hernandez had hit a little rough patch, but Petco Park proved to be proper place for him to remedy his recent struggles on the mound.
Hernandez tossed eight solid innings and the Seattle Mariners totaled five home runs, including the first two of Nick Franklin's career, in a 7-1 victory over the San Diego Padres.
The Seattle right-hander had surrendered 10 earned runs while losing his last two starts. On Thursday afternoon, however, Hernandez (6-4) held the Padres to three singles, two of which came in the fourth inning when the home team scratched out its lone run, on his way to improving to 5-0 in six career starts in San Diego. He has given up just eight earned runs in those outings, which span 46 2/3 innings.
The Mariners snapped a seven-game road losing streak and earned a split of this two-game interleague series. The teams also traded wins in Seattle to begin the week.
San Diego starter Andrew Cashner (4-3) was tagged for four runs and seven hits over six frames.
The Mariners led off the second and third innings with home runs. Kendrys Morales drove the second pitch he saw from Cashner over the center-field wall, then Brendan Ryan hit an offering down the left-field line.
Three consecutive two-out hits later in the third produced another run, with Kyle Seager scoring on a Morales single.
San Diego didn't record its first hit until Chase Headley singled after Alexi Amarista walked to begin the fourth. Amarista went to third on the play before hustling home on Carlos Quentin's sacrifice fly to center.
Yonder Alonso followed with a base hit, but Ryan made a great defensive play at shortstop to rob Jedd Gyorko and start an inning-ending double play.
The Mariners pulled away by belting homers in three consecutive innings.
Franklin, a 2009 first-round pick playing in his fourth career game, launched solo shots with two outs in both the sixth and eighth innings. In between, Endy Chavez smacked a two-run blast.
Game Notes
The Mariners' five home runs tied a Petco Park record for the most by one team in a game ... Cashner had gone 3-0 with a 2.63 ERA over his last four starts.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.