 allowed one run in six innings and Liam Hendriks got his 25th save.From the start, this night was a tribute to one of the Mariners' greats, who will be remembered in the same regard as Hall of Famer Edgar Martinez for his loyalty to the franchise and performance on the mound during his best seasons. He brought Seattle a Cy Young Award and a perfect game.More so, Hernandez had chances to leave and never did, which made the night so emotional.The 10,000 fans of the ''King's Court,'' clad in yellow on three levels down the left-field line rose with every two-strike count, chanting, willing, hoping for a Hernandez strikeout. It happened for the first time in the second inning when Sean Murphy went down swinging and Hernandez immediately pointed to his court, acknowledging their influence.He repeated the act in the third inning on Chad Pinder's swinging strikeout to end the inning, and he got Seth Brown swinging for the second out of the fifth with two runners on.Hernandez walked Jurickson Profar on his 100th pitch of the night to load the bases. Manager Scott Servais made a quick visit to the mound to a chorus of boos hoping to see Hernandez at least finish the inning. Hernandez stayed but his 101st pitch was a deep line drive off the bat of Pinder. Left fielder Dylan Moore raced back and made a leaping, sprawling grab to end the inning.It didn't change the final outcome. But it made Hernandez's final line look better and gave everyone in the ballpark an extra highlight to a memorable night.Hernandez took the mound for the sixth and got Robbie Grossman to fly out to center field. That was it. Servais came to the mound and gave Hernandez a hug. He exchanged a long hug with Kyle Seager, his longest teammate with the Mariners, gave a round of hugs to the rest of the infielders and walked off with tears in his eyes.He pointed around the stadium, came out for a curtain call took a bow and tapped his heart.After the final out, he put on one of the yellow ''King's Court'' shirts and went down to shake hands, wave to fans in ''his'' cheering section and pose for pictures.KINGLY NUMBERSHernandez is Seattle's all-time leader in wins (169), strikeouts (2,524), innings (2,729 2/3), quality starts (258) and games started (418). He's also one of two players to have played at least 15 seasons with the Mariners, joining Martinez who spent 18 seasons with Seattle. He made his debut at 19 and, despite his brilliance, never made it to the postseason.TRAINER'S ROOMAthletics: Oakland got a boost by activating OF Stephen Piscotty off the 10-day injured list on Thursday after missing more than a month with an ankle injury. The A's hope to get Piscotty a handful of at-bats this weekend. ... Manager Bob Melvin said Mark Canha was feeling better after leaving Wednesday's game against the Angels early due to a groin strain. Canha did some running before the game and was day-to-day.UP NEXTAthletics: RHP Mike Fiers (15-4, 3.91) makes his final start before a potential wild-card game. Fiers already has a career-high in wins, but has a 6.68 ERA in his past seven starts.Mariners: LHP Justus Sheffield (0-1, 6.10) makes his seventh and final start. He's lasted only 4 1/3 innings in each of his past two starts.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
King Felix set for Seattle finale vs. A'sFLMKing Felix's reign in Seattle is coming to an end.Felix Hernandez will make what most likely will be his last start in a Mariners uniform on Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series against the visiting Oakland Athletics.Hernandez, a 33-year-old right-hander, is in the final season of a contract that pays him $27 million this year. He is 1-7 with a 6.51 ERA in 14 starts."I know it's going to hit me at some point," Hernandez said. "I don't know if I'm going to be emotional, I don't know if I'm going to be quiet. I don't know if I'm going to be happy. I don't know." In 15 seasons with the Mariners, Hernandez is 169-135 with a 3.42 ERA. He won the American League Cy Young Award in 2010 and pitched a perfect game against Tampa Bay in 2012, the 23rd -- and most recent -- in major league history. He made six All-Star teams and had 10 consecutive seasons with 30-plus starts and more than 190 innings.However, he has won just once in his past 25 appearances, going 1-15 with a 6.44 ERA in that span, and he missed nearly four months this season following a right shoulder injury. His only victory this year came in his first start on April 1 against the Los Angeles Angels.While Hernandez knows his time in Seattle is waning, he isn't ready for this to be the end of his career."I don't want to retire yet," he said. "I can go out there and compete with anybody. It was a tough year with my shoulder, but I think if I'm healthy, I can compete." Hernandez is 26-14 with a 2.85 ERA in 52 outings against Oakland -- 51 starts and the only relief appearance of his career.The A's, who are in a three-way battle with Tampa Bay and Cleveland for the American League's two wild-card playoff berths, plan to send left-hander Sean Manaea (3-0, 1.14 ERA) to the mound Thursday.Manaea will be making only his fifth start after being activated Sept. 1 following shoulder surgery last season."Every time out, it's borderline dominance," A's manager Bob Melvin said of Manaea's return.In 23 2/3 innings, Manaea has 25 strikeouts and seven walks. Opponents are hitting .150 against him.Manaea is 5-4 with a 3.90 ERA 10 career starts against Seattle. He has yet to face the Mariners this year.The A's (95-63) remained a half-game ahead of the Rays for the AL's top wild-card spot thanks to a 3-2 victory Wednesday against the Los Angeles Angels, as Matt Chapman hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the ninth inning. Oakland has a two-game lead on Cleveland.The A's played Wednesday without slugger Khris Davis, who was sidelined by the stomach flu. In addition, center fielder Mark Canha left in the seventh inning after sustaining a left groin strain while trying to field the ball."We'll see how he is in Seattle," Melvin said.Canha said, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, "I'll be back real soon. If it's not super painful to run, I'll be out there. I'm going to force them. I'll write my own name in the lineup." The Mariners (66-92) have lost three games in a row, scoring just one run in the process. They were blanked 3-0 each of the past two nights by Houston's Gerrit Cole and Zack Greinke, and they didn't get a hit Wednesday until collecting two in the ninth inning.--Field Level Media
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