Seattle Mariners 1 — New York Yankees 0
When matched against “King” Felix Hernandez, Kuroda is the hard luck loser in today’s 1-0 loss to the Seattle Mariners.
Going head-to-head with a pitcher of Felix Hernandez’s caliber requires as close a flawless start as you can pitch. Hiroki Kuroda was presented with the task and can support that claim. In 6.1 innings of work, Kuroda gave up just 1 run on a run-scoring single in the 2nd inning by Mike Carp. With his 103 pitches, Kuroda struck out 4 and walked just 1 along with the 7 hits allowed. The bullpen was nearly flawless in their support of Kuroda as they held the Mariners off the board. Usually giving up one run is more than enough for a team to win but Felix Hernandez is not the usual type of matchup.
Felix Hernandez is the model of a pitcher fueled by the big stage and there is no stage bigger than New York in Yankee Stadium. At Yankee Stadium, Hernandez’s ERA is 1.13, the lowest career ERA at the ballpark. The best opportunity that the Yankees had came with two outs in the 1st inning when Robinson Cano hit a double but couldn’t make anything of it. The Yankees managed just 2 hits off of Felix Hernandez, the other hit being by Ichiro Suzuki as he extended his hitting streak to 11 games. Felix Hernandez simply dominated the Yankees in ways that are rarely seen.
Win – Felix Hernandez (10-5)
Loss – Hiroki Kuroda (10-8)
Notable
Mariners
*Mike Carp – 2 for 4, 2B, RBI (19)
*John Jaso – 2 for 4, R, 2B
Yankees
*Robinson Cano – 1 for 4, 2B
*Ichiro Suzuki – 1 for 3
Current Yankees Record: 62-44
