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Mariners lose ace, then game

Apr 19, 2007 - 7:13 AM SEATTLE (Ticker) -- The Seattle Mariners lost much more than a regular season game to the Minnesota Twins. They may have lost their young ace.

Felix Hernandez left the game in the top of the first inning with tightness in his right elbow after retiring just one batter and the Mariners dropped a 5-4 decision to the Twins.

Hernandez (2-1) allowed three runs on two hits and two walks before the trainers came out of the dugout and lifted him with a 3-1 count on Justin Morneau.

"It was a blow for all of us, a bummer," Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said of his young ace's early departure. "Any time you lose a pitcher with the talent that Felix has, it's scary a little bit. It takes a little time to recover, but our guys did real well. I have a gut feeling that Felix is going to be OK, but I have nothing to base that on."

Hernandez will be re-examined Thursday.

The 21-year-old righthander pitched a one-hitter April 11 at Boston and had allowed just four hits in 17 scoreless innings entering Wednesday's game.

Mariners catcher Kenji Johjima was as surprised as anyone to see Hernandez suddenly signal that he was hurt.

"His fastball was good. His breaking ball was good. I didn't see anything that was strange," Johjima said through an interpreter. "I was very worried, but as the game went by I had to think about the pitcher on the mound."

Minnesota added more two runs in the top of the second on Morneau's RBI single off reliever Jake Woods.

"It was a good win for us, although we kind of had to hold on there at the end," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.

Carlos Silva (1-1) turned in another strong outing, pitching five scoreless innings before running into trouble and surrendering a three-run homer to Richie Sexson in the sixth. The portly righthander was lifted after retiring one batter in the seventh.

"Silva did a really good job for us," Gardenhire said. "He only made one mistake to Sexson, but other than that, he threw the ball great."

Silva, who barely made the rotation this season after struggling to an 11-15 record with a 5.94 ERA in 2006, has yielded just four runs in 18 innings over three starts.

"I was feeling very good today," Silva said. "I felt the best so far. Today I was feeling the ball very good in my hand. When I have that feeling I can throw the ball anywhere I want."

Joe Nathan, who suffered his first loss since 2005 in his last outing against Tampa Bay on Sunday, earned his fourth save in as many opportunities despite a shaky ninth inning.

With runners at first and third and two outs, Jose Vidro lined a single to right. The ball got by Michael Cuddyer, but he was able to recover quickly and fire the ball to second baseman Luis Castillo, who relayed it home to cut down Adrian Beltre trying to score the tying run.

"A third base coach is not doing his job unless he gets people thrown out at the plate," Hargrove said about the play. "I don't think any manager in baseball wants a coach who is going to be "safety first." I was glad to see him send him because that's the play to make."

Cuddyer also drove in a pair of runs.

Twins center fielder Torii Hunter sat out Wednesday's game after injuring his left shoulder attempting to make a diving catch in Tuesday's game. He is listed as day-to-day.