King Felix holds court
<p>Fans sitting in the "King Felix's Court" section of Safeco Field cheer for Seattle Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez as they hold up the letter K, which is used to record a strikeout, during the Mariners' baseball game against the Oakland Athletics, Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2011, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)</p>
SEATTLE (AP) - Casper Wells hit a two-run homer in his third game with Seattle and Brendan Ryan sparked the Mariners' offense with some nifty baserunning in a 4-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night.
Wells, acquired Saturday in a four-player trade with Detroit, connected on a full-count pitch from Rich Harden (2-2) in the sixth inning. The drive to left was his first homer since he went deep on June 24 for the Tigers against Arizona.
Seattle starter Felix Hernandez (10-9) allowed two runs and five hits, struck out nine and walked three in 6 1-3 innings. He has 162 strikeouts, tied for second best in the American League.
The right-hander improved to 12-4 with a 2.54 ERA in 21 career starts against Oakland, including five consecutive winning decisions. He hasn't lost to the A's since Sept. 19, 2008.
Scott Sizemore hit a two-run homer on Hernandez's final pitch, but Jeff Gray worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the eighth and Brandon League finished for his 25th save in 29 opportunities.
The Mariners have won four of six since a club-record 17-game losing streak.
Hideki Matsui had three hits for Oakland, which has dropped four of six. Harden allowed four runs and five hits in 5 2-3 innings.
Seattle grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning, helped by alert baserunning from Ryan.
Ryan reached on a one-out infield single to deep shortstop. As he walked back to first base, Ryan noticed second base completely uncovered so he took off and made it without a throw. He popped up immediately and noticed the same lax defense at third, sliding in safely again without an throw.
Dustin Ackley then walked and Mike Carp followed with a two-run double off the left-field wall.
For the Mariners, that represented a career breakthrough against Harden. At the time, it was the most runs ever scored against him in a game at Safeco Field. He entered with a 5-0 record and 0.86 ERA in six career starts at Seattle's home.