The infielders converged on the back of the pitcher’s mound. Catcher Mike Zunino and manager Scott Servais came too. There, they took turns patting Felix Hernandez on the back, on the chest, their chance to say, to suggest, a job well done.
Hernandez did his job Tuesday night to extend into May the Mariners’ feel-good start to the season. He pitched into the seventh inning for just the second time this season, and Nelson Cruz hit a three-run home run to power the Mariners past Oakland, 6-3, before 12,468 at Safeco Field in the first game of a six-day homestand.