Royals’ Blanton, bullpen shut down Mariners

SEATTLE — It started well Monday for the Seattle Mariners. They had Felix Hernandez on the mound, and they grabbed a quick lead on a first-inning homer by Robinson Cano. Then…splat. Kansas City nicked Hernandez for four runs over 62/3 innings, while the Mariners’ attack flat-lined against journeyman right-hander Joe Blanton and the Royals’ suffocating bullpen in a 4-1 loss at Safeco Field. Blanton (2-0) retired 16 in a row after Cano’s two-out homer in the first inning before exiting after Austin Jackson’s leadoff double in the seventh. By then, the Royals had a three-run lead against Hernandez (10-4) and were positioned to call on their three-headed hydra of Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland. The Mariners never got another hit. Herrera stranded an inherited runner at third with no outs in the seventh. Davis had two strikeouts in a one-two-three eighth that lowered his ERA to 0.29. And Holland worked a scoreless ninth for his 14th save in 15 chances. The Mariners also pulled right fielder Nelson Cruz in the seventh inning because of tightness in his right hamstring. The severity of the injury wasn’t immediately known. So…not a good night. The Royals didn’t batter Hernandez, but they bunched their nine hits in telling fashion, including a pair of two-out RBI singles in the second inning, and by sandwiching two two-out singles around a stolen base in the seventh. Yes, the Mariners struck first when Cano crushed a 2-0 fastball for a 424-foot homer to center field with two outs in the first inning. That ended a drought of 84 plate appearances since his last homer on May 30. The lead didn’t last. Salvy Perez started a two-run Kansas City second inning by pulling a 3-2 sinker from Hernandez just fair into left for a one-out double. Left fielder Seth Smith then ran down Alex Gordon’s drive into the left-center gap, but Alex Rios tied the game with a two-out RBI grounder up the middle. Jackson opted for a low-percentage throw to the plate — and he compounded the decision by overthrowing the cut-off man. Result: Perez scored, and Rios easily took second, which turned into another run when Omar Infante punched an RBI single to left. Infante had been hitless in 11 previous career at-bats against Hernandez. The Mariners tried to answer later in the inning, but fly balls by Mark Trumbo and Smith each died at the wall. That pretty much summed up the night. Kansas City stretched its lead to 3-1 in the third inning after Alcides Escobar led off with a ground single up the middle. Mike Moustakas followed with an RBI double off the right-field wall. Hernandez walked Kendrys Morales, but Eric Hosmer helped the King by striking out on a 3-2 pitch that was off the plate. Then the Mariners caught a break. Perez tried to check a swing on a 1-2 pitch. The appeal to crew chief Jim Joyce at first was a swing, for a strikeout, and catcher Mike Zunino then picked off Morales at first. Hernandez avoided more problems in the fifth by escaping a first-and-third jam when Morales grounded into a double play. But the Royals added another run in the seventh and knocked out Hernandez, who retired the first two hitters in the inning before Jarrod Dyson grounded a single to right and stole second. Escobar followed with a slow roller up the middle for an RBI single and a 4-1 lead. Blanton, meanwhile, went into shutdown mode after Cano’s homer, retiring 16 in a row before Jackson’s double to open the seventh inning. That prompted an immediate move by the Royals to their renown bullpen. In came Herrera, who threw a wild pitch that moved Jackson to third with no outs. But Herrera struck out Cano and Dustin Ackley, who batted for Cruz. Herrera stranded Jackson by retiring Kyle Seager on a fly to left.