This has been a month of rarities for Mariners ace Felix Hernandez. Last week he recorded zero strikeouts in a game for the first time in 181 starts and last night he was ejected from a game for the first time in his entire 10-year career.
Hernandez was actually already removed from the game by Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon when he got ejected. As he was leaving the mound following a mediocre outing--he allowed four runs on eight hits in 6.2 innings, but got tons of run support for an easy win--Hernandez yelled at home plate umpire Mark Ripperger over what he felt were bad ball/strike calls earlier in the final at-bat that ended with a three-run double.
When questioned afterward about what he said to the umpire, King Felix joked: “I was asking about the Miami Heat score. He didn’t even know.”
Also of note is that after managing zero strikeouts in his previous start Hernandez struck out seven batters last night, although he’s now allowed 11 runs on 24 hits in 18 innings so far this month. Most of those issues look batting average on ball in play-related though, because Hernandez hasn’t coughed up a homer in May yet.
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