Hernandez, Seattle beat Tribe

7/18/2009

CLEVELAND - Felix Hernandez allowed two runs in eight innings, and Franklin Gutierrez homered against his former team in the Seattle Mariners' 6-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians Friday night.

Hernandez (10-3) allowed five hits, walking one, and striking out eight in his first start since pitching a scoreless inning in Tuesday's All-Star game.

He lowered his ERA to 2.51, ranking him second in the American League behind Kansas City's Zack Greinke (2.12).

Since his last loss on May 19, Hernandez is 6-0 with a 1.30 ERA in 10 starts.

The Indians didn't get a runner past second base until the sixth, when Grady Sizemore tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly.

Sizemore doubled home the Indians' other run in the eighth and is 7 for 14 lifetime against Hernandez.

Gutierrez, acquired from Cleveland in a three-team trade last December, hit his 11th home run in the second inning. He entered with a league-best .385 average since June 18 and has hit in 23 of his last 25 games.

The bottom third of Seattle's order - Rob Johnson, Jack Hannahan, and Ronny Cedeno - combined to go 3 for 7 with two walks and four runs scored. Cedeno, the No. 9 batter, had two run-scoring singles Friday and has three RBIs in the first two games of this series.

Cleveland's David Huff (4-4) needed 108 pitches to survive five innings. Along with Gutierrez's homer, he allowed RBI singles to Ichiro Suzuki and Cedeno in the fourth. The hit for Ichiro extended his streak to 13 games.

NOTES: Cleveland broke the 1 million mark in attendance in its 46th home date. The only teams in the league that have drawn fewer fans are Toronto and Oakland ... Indians OF Shin-Soo Choo is mired in a 3-for-24 slump ... OF Ben Francisco is hitless in nine career at-bats against Hernandez ... Mariners third basemen have combined to commit six errors in 13 games since Adrian Beltre went on the DL June 29.