SEATTLE — Felix Hernandez returned home and showed why Seattle recently gave him $78 million, and the Mariners’ usually quiet bats made their most noise in eight months in an 11-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Friday night.
Hernandez (1-0) struck out nine — Seattle’s season high — while allowing just four hits and two runs in 62/3 innings in his home debut.
Franklin Gutierrez had three hits and three RBI, and Jose Lopez drove in two runs as the Mariners improved to 28-9 with Herndandez starting since the beginning of 2009. Last season’s runner-up for the Cy Young Award turned 24 a week ago.
Detroit’s Jeremy Bonderman (1-1) flopped in his second start after missing most of the last year and a half because of a blood clot in his pitching shoulder.
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