PEORIA, Ariz. — Felix Hernandez pitched two-hit ball for six innings in his longest outing of the spring Thursday as a split squad of Seattle Mariners lost to the Kansas City Royals 3-0.
Hernandez, the ace who led the AL with a 2.14 ERA last season, gave up one run. He struck out four and walked none.
“Changeup was nice, slider was good, fastball was unbelievable,” Hernandez said. “Got a lot of ground balls. It was good.”
Manager Lloyd McClendon thought so, too.
“Very good outing, one that I was anxious to see. It was very important to get him built up, get him up and down five or six times. He got the pitch count up where he needed to be,” McClendon said.
Hernandez retired the side in order in four of his six innings. A leadoff double by Christian Colon followed by a wild pitch and Jarrod Dyson’s sacrifice fly in the third produced the Royals’ run against Hernandez.
Royals starter Jeremy Guthrie shut out the Mariners on two hits for 5 2-3 innings. Closer Greg Holland relived and finished the sixth with a strikeout.
“It was good. Able to throw all my pitches for strikes and felt healthy and strong,” Guthrie said. “Kept it down for the most part.”
Ryan Jackson hit a two-run single with two outs in the eighth off reliever Danny Farquhar, who is in contention for a Seattle bullpen job.
Royals relievers Jason Frasor, Kelvin Herrera and Ryan Madson each pitched a scoreless inning.
Madson hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2011 because of complications from previous injuries.
“We’re really pleased with what he’s done so far. That’s been a really good find for us,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.
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