Mariners notebook: King Felix looks to hit another milestone

OAKLAND, Calif. – Greetings from the Oakland Coliseum, which sits under giant O.co signs despite the fact that the the company opted out of the naming rights last month. Some things never change in this building; apparently we need to add the signage to that list.

It was a rather raucous clubhouse for a getaway day game this morning, and it was Felix Hernandez making the most noise. Little surprise. Felix loves pitching here and today could be special as a win would be the 146th of his career, moving him past Jamie Moyer for most in franchise history.

Felix has fared well against the A’s, going 22-8 with a 2.58 ERA in 41 career starts. He’s already faced them once this season, pitching seven scoreless innings and striking out 10. Last time out we saw a little different look from Felix as he went curveball-heavy. It will be interesting to see what his approach is today.

The lineup behind him will be of the righty variety as the A’s send rookie lefty Sean Manaea to the hill to make his second big-league start.

Lineup!

Norichika Aoki, LF
Ketel Marte, SS
Robinson Cano, 2B
Nelson Cruz, DH
Franklin Gutierrez, RF
Kyle Seager, 3B
Chris Iannetta, C
Dae-Ho Lee, 1B
Leonys Martin, CF

Felix Hernandez, RHP

Could be a tough day for the hitters as they face a top prospect in Manaea.

“We’ll have our hands full today,” manager Scott Servais said. “Sometimes a rookie pitcher that you do not know can have an advantage. Our guys are looking at video and we have some reports, but you never really know until you see him. Hopefully we can jump out early today.”

Notes

• Kyle Seager is heating up. He’s hit .290 with six runs, four doubles, four home runs, 11 RBIs and an OPS of 1.178 in his last nine games.

• I chatted Wednesday with Leonys Martin, who snapped an 0-for-13 streak Tuesday night with his fifth home run. While he enjoys hitting the homers, he wanted to stress that is not his game. He has been working to make better contact and get on base more consistently. For him, it has been a process. “I have to figure out my timing,” he said. “I felt better at the plate last night, but we are trying to find different ways to get my timing. Get a better rhythm with the pitcher, try to dance a little bit to find a better timing.”

• The Astros have announced their starters for the four-game series against the Mariners. Here are the probables: Wade Miley vs. Chris Devenski (0-1, 1.45) on Thursday; Taijuan Walker vs. Doug Fister (2-3, 4.60) on Friday; Nathan Karns vs. Dallas Keuchel (2-4, 5.11) on Saturday; Hisashi Iwakuma vs. Collin McHugh (3-3, 6.59) on Sunday.

• I appeared on “Brock and Salk” this morning to talk about what we are seeing from the Mariners. The audio can be found here.

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