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King Felix hopes to continue mastery of Yanks

May 28, 2011 - 2:32 PM

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(Sports Network) - Felix Hernandez hopes to continue his recent dominance of the New York Yankees this evening when the Seattle Mariners continue their three-game series against them at Safeco Field.

Hernandez is 5-3 lifetime against the Yankees with a 2.73 ERA. However, he has completely shut New York down lately, going 4-0 over his last four starts against it, while allowing just two earned runs in 35 innings of that stretch.

Of his 13 wins last season, three of them came against the Yankees, as the American League's reigning Cy Young Award winner allowed just one run and struck out 31 in 26 innings versus them,

"It seemed like whenever we matched up against him last year, he was dominant," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "Hopefully that's not the case this year because we're going to see him in three different series. His stuff is just really good and sometimes you match up against some teams better than others. For whatever reason, we haven't hit him."

Hernandez snapped a two-start losing streak on Sunday in San Diego, as he held the Padres to a run and six hits and matched a career-high with 13 strikeouts over eight innings to run his record to 5-4, while lowering his earned run average to 3.01.

"My changeup was pretty good today," said Hernandez, who also didn't walk a batter. "All my stuff, I was throwing a lot of strikes. I was working in all my pitches."

New York, meanwhile, will counter with rookie right-hander Ivan Nova, who is 4-3 with a 4.29 ERA. Nova gave up three runs in the second inning to the Mets on Sunday, but that was it. He allowed 11 hits in 6 2/3 innings of that one and escaped a loss when his team exploded for eight runs in the seventh inning.

Nova has never faced the Mariners.

New York had a hard time scoring runs in Friday's opener, as Brendan Ryan and Ichiro Suzuki each scored a run and knocked in another, to help Seattle sneak out a 4-3 win.

The Mariners began a 10-game homestand with their ninth win in 11 games to pull within .500 (25-25) for the first time since they were 2-2.

David Pauley (3-0) threw two scoreless innings to pick up the win, while the loss was credited to Luis Ayala (1-1).

Both starters lasted five innings and did not factor in the decision. Seattle rookie Michael Pineda gave up three runs on three hits and five walks, and New York's A.J. Burnett was charged with two runs on four hits and five walks.

"[Pineda] didn't have the command we've seen him have, but those are the days you've gotta dig deep and find a way to keep the team in the ballgame, and that's what he did," Mariners manager Eric Wedge said.

Alex Rodriguez extended his hitting streak to seven in the loss. He is batting .429 with seven runs, three home runs with five RBI and five multi-hit games in his last 10 games. A-Rod, though, is just a .214 hitter against Hernandez.

New York won six of 10 meetings with Seattle a year ago, with a 3-1 record in games played at Safeco Field.






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