SEATTLE — For two months there had been no sea of yellow in the northwest corner of Safeco Field.
The King’s Court was vacant for nearly two months as Felix Hernandez, the face of the Seattle Mariners franchise, recovered from shoulder bursitis.
But on Friday, the chants of “K, K, K, K” emanated from the yellow-clad members of the King’s Court as Hernandez returned to the mound and went six innings as the Mariners topped the American League West Division-leading Houston Astros 13-3 before 31,783 fans at Safeco Field.
“We’re excited to get him back, but we’re expecting regular Felix,” Mariners catcher Mike Zunino said prior to the game. “I know he’s taken his rehab and everything very seriously and I know he’s excited to get back on the mound.”
Zunino’s words proved prescient. Hernandez struck out six and walked just one while scattering eight hits to pick up the victory as the Mariners moved two games over .500.
A durable innings-eater for most of his 13-year major league career, the 31-year-old Mariners ace has gone on the disabled list in back-to-back seasons.
“He’s driven, and I think as he’s started to see us play pretty good ball he wants to contribute,” Zunino said. “I know it hurts him. He went a long stretch of his career never being on the DL and I know it really bugs him. I think him being able to come back and contribute, he’s excited to do that.”
Zunino did his part to help his pitcher as he continued his torrid month of June with a three-run homer and a double.
Hernandez had a couple of hiccups as he allowed a pair of solo home runs, but he was able to mitigate most of the damage. Jose Altuve belted a two-out solo homer in the first, but Hernandez came back to fan Carlos Correa on a breaking ball in the dirt to get out of the inning. He worked around a double and a walk in the second thanks in part to two more strikeouts, and nimbly covered first on a 3-6-1 double play in the third — the only inning he faced the minimum despite giving up a leadoff infield single to Correa.
Shortly thereafter the Mariners gave him a six-run cushion. Jarrod Dyson doubled in Kyle Seager to tie the game 1-1 in the second before Seattle erupted for six runs in the third. Mitch Haniger and Danny Valencia had RBI singles, and Zunino’s towering three-run home run to left-center proved to be the big blow as it gave Seattle a 7-1 lead.
Hernandez surrendered another run on a pair of singles in the fourth, but fanned two more on off-speed pitches down in the zone.
Meanwhile the Mariners kept hitting as Ben Gamel and Seager had solo homers in the bottom of the fourth.
Houston’s Alex Bregman led off the fifth with a solo home run to straightaway center, but that was the final run Hernandez allowed.
Seattle tacked on three more in the seventh. Danny Valencia and Dyson each scored on the same wild pitch, and later in the inning pinch-runner Taylor Motter scored on a second wild pitch. Nelson Cruz scored on an error in the eighth.
Hernandez made three rehab starts at Class AAA Tacoma prior to Friday’s game. The timing of his injury didn’t allow him to reprise his rehab stint last season with the AquaSox when he returned to a sold-out Everett Memorial Stadium in July.
“There is a lot of excitement around baseball (in Everett) and it’s a cool place to play because it gives everybody from the Seattle area an opportunity to see the young players that are coming into this organization,” said Zunino, who tore through the Northwest League with Everett for a month in 2012. “For Felix to go back there and make his rehab start sort of shows everything comes full circle.”
Follow Herald Writer Jesse Geleynse on Twitter.
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