Apr. 17, 2009 (The Seattle Times delivered by Newstex ) --
After breezing through the first inning, Felix Hernandez labored through the second, although the Tigers victimized him with a couple of well placed hits. One of those wasn't by Miguel Cabrera, who is off to a torrid start for the Tigers . He led off the inning by pounding an off-field single high off the rightfield wall. He already had 17 hits and 12 RBIs in the team's first nine games, becoming only the third Detroit player to do that since 1955 (joining AL Kaline and Chris Shelton, whose names probably should never again be typed in the same sentence). The key hit was a dribbler by ex-Mariner Carlos Guillen behind Hernandez to his right, which Adrian Beltre couldn't handle, setting up a two-on, none-out situation for Detroit. Brandon Inge made it 2-0 with a single in the hole off Yuniesky Betancourt's glove on a 3-2 count with the bases loaded.
The M's bullpen is going to be needed. Hernandez has thrown 48 pitches through two innings.
Newstex ID: SE-2543-34226545
