White Sox pound Mariners

CHICAGO — Keeping his opponent off the scoreboard hadn’t been much of a problem for Felix Hernandez when it came to facing the crew from this city’s south side. For Hernandez, who had held the Chicago White Sox scoreless for 23 consecutive innings heading into Monday night’s clash, the toughest part of notching wins against his Windy City opponent had been a lack of run support. Chicago finally broke through against Hernandez in the third inning of this 6-1 loss, snapping a scoreless drought dating back to 2008. But the streak of offensive futility continued for the Mariners, who have scored just one run for Hernandez in the past 22 innings he’s been on the mound against the White Sox. Hernandez caught an early break when Michael Saunders doubled and scored on a single by Jack Wilson to make it 1-0 for the Mariners in the third inning. It was the first Seattle run scored against Chicago with Hernandez on the mound since early last season — a streak of 17 innings. But the sellout crowd of 38,815 at U.S. Cellular Field didn’t have to wait long for the home team to respond. Alexei Ramirez reached on a ground ball that deflected off the glove of third baseman Jose Lopez in the bottom of the third. Then, with two out, Ramirez stole second and came home to tie it on a single up the middle by Juan Pierre. The speedy Pierre took second on the throw to the plate and scored moments later on a single by Omar Vizquel that put Chicago ahead to stay. Hernandez kept the score at 2-1 until the sixth, when Paul Konerko led off with a solo home run to left field. Ichiro then robbed Mark Kotsay of a two-run homer with a leaping grab at the right-field wall. But the White Sox still added another run that frame to go up 4-1 after consecutive ground-rule doubles by A.J. Pierzynski and Ramirez. Brian Sweeney took over in relief to start the eighth and allowed the final two Chicago runs on a sacrifice fly to right by Pierzynski and a single by Pierre. For Hernandez, it was a familiar, frustrating story. He tossed eight innings of two-hit, shutout ball against the White Sox last week, only to see a scoreless tie drag on until the 11th inning, when the Mariners scored twice to come back for a 2-1 win. Last August, Hernandez threw seven scoreless innings against Chicago, only to see a scoreless tie last until the 14th, when the Mariners prevailed 1-0. Before that, in a game in late April of last season, Hernandez got plenty of run support in beating the White Sox 9-1 and producing after another shutout performance of eight innings. Still, this loss marked his third straight failed attempt to secure a win, despite battling through seven innings, allowing the four runs on 117 pitches. Hernandez’s earned-run average climbed slightly, from 2.75 to 2.87. That’s still the second-best ERA in the American League behind the 2.56 of former teammate Cliff Lee. Hernandez also leads the league in innings pitched at 160 2/3 and is second in strikeouts. But his won-lost record, now at a meager 7-7, could wind of costing him if he winds up in a tight Cy Young Award race. The Mariners had only a handful of chances to provide some support to Hernandez and mostly came up empty against tough Chicago left-hander John Danks. Lopez reached on a single with one out in the fourth, but Casey Kotchman grounded into a double play. Milton Bradley, serenaded by boos in his first game played in Chicago since his abrupt departure from the Cubs last year, walked and stole second with two out in the seventh, but was stranded. Seattle got two on with one out in the eighth, down by three runs, but Chone Figgins grounded into a 5-4-3 double play.