Rare grand slam leads Seattle past the Mets
NEW YORK — Felix Hernandez's wild night began with one stunning swing and ended after a frustrating injury.
Hernandez hit the first grand slam by an American League pitcher in 37 years, then left with a sprained ankle before he could qualify for a win Monday night in the Seattle Mariners' 5-2 victory over the New York Mets.
Facing a fellow ace from Venezuela in his first plate appearance this season, King Felix connected off Johan Santana with two outs in the second inning to give Seattle a 4-0 lead.
"My approach? Just swing. I closed my eyes," Hernandez said. "I was happy and I was thinking that's all I need — four runs."
Hernandez clapped his hands when the ball cleared the fence and rounded the bases in glee. After the game, he said he figured it was his first homer since Little League.
"We were all so pumped up," winning pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith said.
The opposite-field shot to right-center also was the first home run by a pitcher in Mariners history, and the first slam by an AL hurler since Cleveland's Steve Dunning went deep against Oakland's Diego Segui on May 11, 1971, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
"He had a pretty good swing," Santana said. "The pitch was out of the strike zone, it was up like it was supposed to be, and all of a sudden, the ball leaves the park. There's nothing you can do about it."
Three innings later, Hernandez sprained his left ankle while covering home plate on a run-scoring wild pitch. Carlos Beltran slid hard into the feet of Hernandez, who hobbled away from the play and crumpled to the turf.
He tried a painful warmup pitch, then spiked his cap to the ground in frustration. The 22-year-old right-hander departed one out short of being eligible for a win and had to be helped to the dugout by team trainers.
Later, Beltran said he called Hernandez to check on him.
"It happened so fast," Beltran said. "I wasn't really watching anything except home plate. After I watched the replay, I saw that he was blocking the plate and I caught him with my spikes."
X-rays were negative and Hernandez expects to make his next scheduled start.
At Boston, Dan Haren allowed two hits over seven shutout innings and outpitched Josh Beckett.The Diamondbacks, swept by Minnesota last weekend, have won seven of their past 21 road games. Boston dropped to 1-3 on its six-game homestand after winning 19 of its previous 22 at Fenway Park.Haren (8-4) struck out five in winning his fifth consecutive start. Brandon Lyon got his 16th save.Arizona broke a scoreless tie in the seventh on Chris Young's RBI double and Chris Snyder's run-producing groundout. Beckett (7-5) gave up two runs in eight innings, striking out eight.
At Atlanta, Ben Sheets (9-1) pitched a four-hitter and retired his final 16 batters for his NL-high third complete game. Mike Cameron hit a two-run homer off Jo-Jo Reyes (3-5), who lasted only 2Z\c innings.
At Washington, Garret Anderson's eighth-inning single drove in the go-ahead run. John Lackey (5-1) allowed two runs — one earned — in eight innings before Francisco Rodriguez earned his major league-leading 31st save.
At Kansas City, Mo., Brian Bannister (7-6) earned his third straight win and Mark Teahen hit a three-run homer as the Royals won for the eighth time in nine games — all against NL clubs. Kansas City's 10-3 record is the best in interleague play. Jose Guillen also homered off Jeff Francis (3-7).
