If anyone could slow the blitzing Chicago White Sox and their currently seemingly unstoppable offense, you'd think it would be 2010 Cy Young winner Felix Hernandez, who led his Seattle Mariners into U.S. Cellular Field on Friday night. But Hernandez offered little resistance, giving up four earned runs in five innings before giving way to a bullpen that would eventually allow the Sox to take home a 7-4 victory.
Those four runs off Hernandez came all on homers, two by the resurgent Gordon Beckham and the other by Adam Dunn. Beckham put the Sox up 2-0 in the first with a homer to left field that scored Alejandro De Aza. Beckham would then homer again in the fifth to put Chicago up 3-0, and that was immediately followed by a solo shot from Dunn to right.
The White Sox would eventually relinquish that lead thanks to a two-run homer from Kyle Seager in the seventh and back-to-back RBI singles in the eighth by Seager and Justin Smoak. But the White Sox would take the lead back immediately in the bottom of the eighth on RBI singles by Alexei Ramirez and De Aza, the latter of which plated two runs.
Closer Addison Reed came in for the ninth and gave up a lead off double to Miguel Olivo before retiring the next three batters in order to secure his seventh save of the season.
The teams will take the field tomorrow afternoon at 3:10 p.m.
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