Mariners 4 - 2 Athletics
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King Felix, Cahill square off at the Coliseum

Jul 5, 2011 - 2:55 PM

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(Sports Network) - A terrific pitching matchup is on tap at the Coliseum when Felix Hernandez and the Seattle Mariners continue a three-game series tonight against Trevor Cahill and the Oakland Athletics.

Hernandez has not been as impressive as he was when he won the American League Cy Young Award last season, but was still named an All-Star on Sunday. Hernandez lost for the second time in three starts on Wednesday against Atlanta, as he allowed five runs and 10 hits in 7 2/3 innings to fall to 8-7 on the year to go along with a 3.35 earned run average.

"I made good pitches," Hernandez said. "They hit a lot of ground balls up the middle. The command was there. I was painting the corner. Just no luck today."

Hernandez tossed 7 2/3 scoreless innings to beat the A's back on April 21 and is 11-4 lifetime against them with a 2.61 ERA in 19 starts.

Cahill, meanwhile, opened the year by winning his first six decisions, but has since lost six of his last eight, while raising his ERA over that span nearly two runs to 3.28.

His latest loss came on Thursday against Florida, which reached him for five runs (four earned) and nine hits in only 4 2/3 frames.

"Any time you come out of the game is tough," Cahill said. "I just try to go out there and at least throw a quality start every time, and so it's frustrating to not even make it through five. I think it's just one of those days I didn't have my best stuff and wasn't able to battle through it."

Cahill, who did not make the All-Star team despite having the same amount of wins as King Felix and a slightly lower ERA, beat Seattle the last time he faced the club and is 2-3 in seven starts against the Mariners with a 2.61 ERA.

In Monday's opener, rookie Michael Pineda struck out seven batters in six innings, leading Seattle to a 2-1 win. Josh Bard and Justin Smoak both had RBI for the Mariners, who have won three of four.

"He was really good," Mariners manager Eric Wedge said of his young hurler. "They made him work, but he looked like a very mature pitcher out there. He's looked like that all year."

Aaron Laffey, David Pauley and Brandon League pitched out of the bullpen, with League working around a one-out walk in the ninth inning to secure his 23rd save.

Kurt Suzuki hit an RBI single for the Athletics, who fell to 4-8 in their last 12 games. Brandon McCarthy (1-5) pitched for the first time since May 18 and took the loss after giving up both runs in 6 2/3 innings.

McCarthy, who was activated off the disabled list Sunday after getting over a stress reaction in his right shoulder blade, retired the first nine batters of the game until Ichiro Suzuki singled to lead off the fourth.

"I thought he was terrific," said A's manager Bob Melvin. "It was good enough to win, they just got one more hit than we did when it mattered."

Seattle is 5-3 against the A's this season.






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