German_Force » but still no set timetable

"He has to pitch like a [Greg] Maddux or a [Zack] Greinke or a Pedro [Martinez] at the end of his career http://www.athleticsfanproshop.com/authentic-catfish-hunter-jersey ," Stottlemyre Jr. says.Seattle has long taken care to coax the most out of the rare talent Hernandez is."When he came up, we limited him to 190 innings, including spring training," says Mike Hargrove, Seattle's manager in 2005 when Hernandez debuted at 19. "I told fans and the writers that one night Felix is going to have a two-hit shutout into the sixth and you'll think I'm nuts for taking him out, but it's going to have to happen. You try to take care of guys like that."At 23, Hernandez led the AL with 19 wins. He won the Cy Young the next year and then led the AL with a 2.14 ERA again in 2014. But the Mariners annually fumbled away his peak seasons, finishing third or fourth in the AL West every summer.Armchair general managers eventually howled that the Mariners had to kick-start a rebuild by trading their ace for a windfall of prospects. But the club didn't have the stomach to trade away a civic treasure."As for 'serious' trade talks, there really never were any," Jack Zduriencik, Seattle's GM from 2008-15 and now a pre- and postgame analyst on Pirates radio, texted to B/R. "When I received calls, I just said we were not trading Felix. Our goal was to add and build around him. Sure, I got calls, but we never exchanged names. So I can say we never came close to any deal. I just never seriously engaged. End of story."Through it all, the love affair between a city and its ace was unwavering. Hernandez never complained, never wanted to go elsewhere. He signed a seven-year, $175 million extension in February 2013鈥攁t that time the richest contract ever awarded to a pitcher.They celebrated the extension that night鈥擣elix, Sandra Rollie Fingers Jersey , Zduriencik and some of the front office staff鈥攐ver dinner at celebrity chef John Howie's Seastar RestaurantRaw Bar.Now, Seastar's downtown location has closed, and Hernandez's fastball has disappeared along with it."I looked at the scoreboard the other night and saw Seattle was down 8-0 and I thought, 'Who's pitching?'" Hargrove says. "Aw, man. Felix."What Hernandez has done since that lunch in Houston is look forward and appreciate what still is possible, rather than looking backward and dwelling on what was. His smile and infectious personality have returned. And his outings, though nowhere close to vintage, have been reasonable.When he was summoned in the first inning of that Aug. 14 game against Oakland, it was his first relief appearance following 398 consecutive starts, according to Mariners PR. Only Mike Mussina (498) made more before his first relief appearance.Hernandez has grown so comfortable in the routine he developed as a reliever that he maintains it on days he isnt starting.Mark Cunningham/Getty ImagesThough Hernandez returned to the rotation afterward, he's kept the new reliever routine he developed in Houston: He scoots from the dugout to the bullpen in the second inning each day he doesn't start and hangs out with his buddies there."Superstition," he says, chuckling. "My starts have been good lately, so I go to the bullpen."Hey, you can't blame a guy for turning over every single rock in his zeal to recapture his old SoDo mojo.It may be working, depending on the context.Since returning to the starting rotation, Hernandez has allowed no more than four earned runs in any start and has struck out 20 batters.The way he figures it, he's healthy now and still has more to do."The last two years, I wasn't healthy http://www.athleticsfanproshop.com/authentic-terry-steinbach-jersey ," he says. "Now, my body feels good."He added a cutter about a month ago, a new pitch he keeps in his back pocket to break out in case his curve or changeup isn't behaving the way he needs it to on a given day."Let's face it, where he is this day and age with his stuff, he has to pitch to contact," Stottlemyre Jr. says. "He has to rely on getting the ball on the ground. He's not always able to wipe guys out like he used to."With that being said, it's really important that he gets ahead in good counts, and he's in good counts with his fastball."The Mariners have pointed out to him that former aces like Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain moved to the bullpen at times later in their careers. And when they faced Greinke recently, they noticed he's added a Felix-like changeup that he throws hard and disguises to look like a fastball.Everything is on the table as Hernandez earnestly works to grab hold of those fleeting moments of greatness and clutch them as long as he can, while at least turning the other moments tolerable.When he was so down a month ago, even his mother told him, "My heart is broken, because I've never seen you like this." She also had another suggestion, reaching back to his early days with the Mariners when he was bigger."You've got to get big again," she told him."No, mom," he said."You look like a model now.""No, mom."He chuckles."It's been a tough year, man Dave Henderson Jersey ," he says. "But you know what? I'm hanging in there. I'm competing. That's all I can do."As everyone keeps telling him, he's still the King.Long live the King. Scott Miller covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report. Follow Scott on Twitter and talk baseball.B/R's Danny Knobler contributed to this story. SEATTLE (AP) — Robinson Cano is searching for any way to help the Seattle Mariners stay in the playoff race and try to make up for the 80 games he was gone while being suspended.On Monday night, it was hitting a game-winning home run — his first long ball in more than three months.“It was a good swing but to be in that situation to hit a homer to get the team ahead and win the game, it’s pretty special,” Cano said.Cano hit a three-run shot in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift Seattle to a key 7-4 win over the Houston Astros, the Mariners fifth straight win over their division rival. Even before he stepped to the plate in the eighth, Cano was on his way to a big night with a pair of doubles — his first two extra-base hits since coming back from his suspension for violating baseball’s joint drug policyThose were precursors to his drive to left-center field off Houston’s Collin McHugh (5-2) with one out in the eighth. The pitch was a borderline strike, but Cano got enough to drive it out to the opposite field on a night the ball struggled to carry due to smoke from wildfires in Canada choking the Seattle area.“From the first game of his year I was trying to use more of the field,” Cano said. “That was the kind of hitter I was when I first came up and I’ve always been a guy who used the whole field so if they pitch away I’m just going to go where they pitch.”It was Cano’s fifth home run and his first since May 12 against Detroit. Seattle pulled within 3 1/2 games of Houston in the division race, while the Astros fell back into a tie with Oakland for the top spot in the AL West.“It’s like making a huge trade at the deadline for a middle of the order bat,” Houston manager A.J. Hinch said. “It’s hard to navigate through him.”Seattle finally came through with runners in scoring position after starting 1 for 12, the only hit being Mitch Haniger’s RBI single in the sixth inning that pulled the Mariners even at 4-4. Dee Gordon reached on an infield single with one out in the eighth — with manager Scott Servais ejected during the at-bat — and Haniger followed with a walk. Cano got a fastball on the outside part of the plate and drove it out.Seattle’s pitching was also outstanding, retiring 21 of the final 22 Houston batters. Felix Hernandez was solid in his return to the rotation after a brief demotion to the Seattle bullpen. Relievers Adam Warren and Alex Colome (4-5) were perfect to the ninth where Edwin Diaz finished off his league-best 48th save, tying the franchise record.The only batter to have success was Marwin Gonzalez, who homered in the first and added a two-run double in the third off Hernandez. Houston was limited to one hit after the third inning.“They outhit us, and they put a lot of pressure on us from the very beginning of the game,” Hinch said.FELIX’S STARTHernandez allowed four runs and scattered five hits — three of those to Gonzalez — in six innings. Despite the four earned runs it was one of his better starts of the season.“The last three innings the ball was coming out much better,” Hernandez said.EJECTIONServais was ejected protecting Gordon after he started arguing a strike call by home plate umpire Mike Muchlinski. Servais stepped between the two and was quickly tossed. It was his third ejection of the season.MVP RETURNSThe Astros expect to activate 2B Jose Altuve off the 10-day disabled list before Tuesday’s game. Altuve has been out since July 26 with a sore knee. He played one game for Triple-A Fresno on Sunday and collected his first-ever Triple-A hit. Altuve made the jump directly from Double-A to joining the Astros.TRAINER’S ROOMAstros: OF George Springer was scratched from the lineup due to a sore left quad. Hinch said Springer reported the soreness after arriving at the ballpark. It’s not considered serious and Springer could have been used off the bench if needed. … C Brian McCann and RHP Chris Devenski will continue their rehab assignments with Double-A Corpus Christi later this week. Their chances of rejoining the Astros will be re-evaluated next week when the club comes off the road and returns to Houston.Mariners: LHP James Paxton threw for the second straight day as he recovers from the forearm contusion suffered when he was hit by a line drive. Paxton threw at about 90-100 feet but still no set timetable on his potential return. … Relief pitcher Sam Tuivailala had surgery late last week to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered earlier this month. Recovery time is expected to be six to eight months.UP NEXTAstros: Brad Peacock (2-4) is expected to come from the bullpen and make the start for Houston.Mariners: Mike Leake (8-7) is coming off his best start of the season where he pitched eight scoreless innings and allowed two hits against Oakland. Leake has recorded a quality start in his past six outings.