Mariners can’t get to Millwood
ARLINGTON, Texas – Kevin Millwood wasn’t like so many other pitchers the Rangers have tried to persuade to come to Texas. Their hitter-friendly ballpark didn’t bother him.
Not even after he lost his first two starts there.
“I stuck to my guns. The field doesn’t bother me, and it still doesn’t,” Millwood said. “I just finally got to where I was pitching a little better and getting a few wins here.”
Millwood allowed one run over seven innings for his 16th victory – his fourth straight at home – in the Rangers’ 8-1 win over the Seattle Mariners on Monday night.
After leading the A.L. in ERA last season, the free agent signed a $60 million, five-year contract. He lost to Boston in the season opener and was 1-3 in his first five home starts. Only now does he have a winning record (7-6) there.
“I just wanted to pitch well,” said Millwood, whose last two scheduled starts include the home finale Sunday. “So far, it’s turned out to be an OK season.”
Michael Young and Gary Matthews Jr. both had their third straight multihit games and Nelson Cruz hit a three-run homer for the Rangers.
Carlos Lee put the Rangers up with a two-run double in the third. Hank Blalock followed with another double to make it 3-0. Matthews had a leadoff single in the fifth and scored on an error.
Felix Hernandez (11-14), Seattle’s 20-year-old right-hander in his second season, matched his season high with nine strikeouts in five innings, but he gave up four runs and five hits.
“I don’t really care about striking people out,” Hernandez said. “Most of the time when I do that, my pitch count is pretty high and I don’t get past five or six innings.”
After No. 2 hitter Adrian Beltre had a single in the first, Millwood didn’t allow another hit until Raul Ibanez led off the seventh with a double – a liner that bounced off the extended glove of Matthews, the All-Star center fielder.
“I didn’t see him pitch with the Indians or here with such consistent velocity as he did tonight. He was between 92 and 96 mph,” M’s manager Mike Hargrove said. “He had good stuff.”
Millwood allowed four hits with four strikeouts and two walks. He has a 2.40 ERA his last four home appearances.
Richie Sexson followed Ibanez’s double with a single before Yuniesky Betancourt’s sacrifice fly made it 5-1.
Hernandez is 1-5 with an 8.63 ERA his last eight starts. He allowed one run in two of his no-decisions and the only win in that span was a five-hit shutout against the Los Angeles Angels on Aug. 18.