Felix Hernandez entered tonights game having won his last four decisions. The Yankees had him on the ropes several times tonight but in every single at bat, Hernandez wiggled out of trouble until the eighth inning where he hit two batters in Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. Ichiro was hit in the seventh before Stewart made the final out of the inning. A-Rod was hit on the wrist or hand area and exited the game in extreme pain. If Rodriguez misses any significant amount of time due to injury, the Yankees don't have a true everyday third baseman who can take the spot of A-Rod on the field and in the lineup.
Freddy Garcia pitched his tail off tonight, going 7.1 innings and giving up only two runs. Garcia retired his final fifteen batters before Girardi went to the pen to mix and match. Garcia's 7.1 innings was his longest outing of the season as were his eight strikeouts. Freddy showed Girardi that they don't need to obtain another starter before the deadline because Garcia is capable of pitching how the Yankees thought he would before the year started. Garcia took a bad luck loss where his offense scratched out two meager runs against the Mariners and gave up four. The Yankees had runners in scoring position all night but failed to get the big hit that drove in runs.
In tomorrow's afternoon finale, Ivan Nova is looking for his eleventh win of the season. On the other side, Iwakuma will be making the start for the Mariners. The Japanese pitcher has never faced the Yankees or any of their hitters.
UPDATE: A-Rod has a non-displaced fracture of his left hand. He is headed for the disabled list.
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