Seattle 2, San Francisco 0
When: 10:10 PM ET, Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Where: Safeco Field, Seattle, Washington
Temperature:
72°
Umpires:
Home -
Bill Welke, 1B -
John Tumpane, 2B -
James Hoye, 3B -
John Hirschbeck
Attendance:
34844
By The Sports Xchange
SEATTLE -- This time, Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez made it through the first inning. And seven more, incidentally, on his way to outdueling one off the best pitchers in the game.
Hernandez got the better of the Giants' Madison Bumgarner, throwing eight scoreless innings to lead the Mariners to a 2-0 win over San Francisco on Wednesday.
"The bigger the occasion, the better he pitches," Seattle catcher Mike Zunino said after Hernandez bounced back from the worst performance of his career. "He did it once again, and I think it's going to be a big boost for this club."
Coming off an eight-run, one-third-of-an-inning performance in Houston, Hernandez allowed four hits over eight innings before left-hander Charlie Furbush and new closer Carson Smith finished off the win. Hernandez (10-3) struck out five and walked two while throwing 106 pitches. It marked the third time in 14 starts this season that Hernandez did not allow a run.
"You don't want to look bad twice," Hernandez said of rebounding from his horrific start. "The mindset is to go back and have a good game."
Bumgarner (7-4) surrendered four hits and struck out nine but gave up two runs while taking the tough-luck loss. The Giants (35-32) have failed to score a run in either of his past two starts, having lost 1-0 to the Arizona Diamondbacks the last time Bumgarner pitched.
"He pitched great," manager Bruce Bochy said. "He pitched his heart out. ... He was electric tonight. He just had some bad luck."
Run-scoring, extra-base hits from center fielder Austin Jackson and second baseman Robinson Cano proved to be the difference in the game.
"I felt great, as good as I've felt all year," Bumgarner said. "It's one of those days where everything was there."
The Mariners didn't get a baserunner off Bumgarner until the fifth inning, and then they finally broke the scoreless tie in the sixth.
Catcher Mike Zunino hit a one-out single, then he scored the game's first run on Jackson's triple. San Francisco center fielder Angel Pagan appeared to have a bead on Jackson's fly ball to right-center field, but the ball fell just out of Pagan's reach and rolled to the wall. Zunino barely beat the throw home, which was off line and caused catcher Buster Posey to make a diving sweep-tag that missed by only an inch or two.
"In games like that, you need something like that to get something going," said Jackson, who took third on the throw, scored on Cano's double one batter later.
Pagan appeared to have a chance to make the catch on Jackson's ball, and he offered no explanation for the play afterward.
"I missed it," he said. "I gave my best effort, and I missed it. No excuses. I should have caught it."
The Giants have now gone 17 consecutive innings over two-plus Bumgarner starts without scoring a run for him.
After Wednesday's game, Pagan said the Giants weren't over-thinking the streak.
"That's the nature of the game," he said. "You're going to win or you're going to lose. You don't have time to get frustrated."
Smith, who has temporarily taken over closing duties for struggling veteran Fernando Rodney, earned the save after getting the final out for the Mariners (30-36). Furbush retired the first two batters of the inning.
Seattle's Hernandez was coming off the worst outing of his career, as he allowed eight earned runs in one-third of an inning in his previous start. The last time Hernandez allowed four earned runs or more in back-to-back outings was in May 2013.
Asked whether he was motivated by his previous start, Hernandez said: "I was not that pumped. Just trying to make it through one (inning)."
NOTES: Seattle RHP Felix Hernandez and San Francisco LHP Madison Bumgarner faced each other only once before: three years earlier, to the day, than Wednesday. Each starter allowed one earne
Top Game Performances
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
| San Francisco
|
4 |
0 |
4 |
.125 |
13 |
7 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
| Seattle
|
4 |
0 |
7 |
.148 |
4 |
9 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
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