HOUSTON — When the situation had finally reached the point of embarrassment in the third inning, an escalation that quickly worsened from bad to awful to dear God, please make it stop, two things became very clear.
Felix Hernandez didn’t want to be out the mound for one pitch more.
And manager Scott Servais didn’t watch him try to throw another pitch, which probably would have been walloped for a double or misplayed by one of his fielders.
The erstwhile Mariners ace couldn’t hand the ball to Servais fast enough as he left the mound, ending a gruesome pasting that has to make him question his future beyond this season.