Mariners Edge White Sox, 5-4
PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) -- Felix Hernandez threw six scoreless innings and Leonys Martin hit a walk-off solo home run in the 10th inning to give the Seattle Mariners a 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Friday.
Hernandez allowed five hits, struck out three and retired the White Sox in order over his final two innings. The Mariners ace has one more scheduled spring start before pitching on opening day.
"Getting closer to opening day, so it means a lot," Hernandez said. "They have a good lineup. I had to make good pitches because they're dangerous."
Martin is still batting .190 in spring training, but his manager said that doesn't tell the whole story.
"He's hit a lot of hard balls and doesn't have a lot of hits to show for it," Scott Servais said. "He smoked that ball. That ball was crushed. I was happy for him."
Austin Jackson hit a grand slam in the seventh off Justin De Fratus to give the White Sox a 4-2 lead.
Seattle's Nelson Cruz hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings.
"Nelson was kind of struggling earlier in the day, but that's what those big boppers do," Servais said. "They may not look great all the time, but they bring a threat to the plate and he got a pitch and he obviously didn't miss it."
The Mariners had just two hits against Chicago starter Jose Quintana. The left-hander gave up two runs (one earned run) and struck out seven in six innings.
"I'm really happy. I tried to come back quick after a tough first inning," Quintana said. He balked and threw two wild pitches in the first.
"That's the most important thing for a pitcher, when you can go long in a game," he added.
White Sox reliever Nate Jones struck out the side in the seventh inning and has not allowed a run in six innings of spring training work.
SALADINO'S FRIDAY
Chicago shortstop Tyler Saladino booted a ground ball in the first inning to allow the Mariners to score a second run but made up for it in the fifth. He stole a hit from Aoki by ranging to his right, flagging down a bouncing ball and throwing out Aoki at first.
STARTING TIME
White Sox: Quintana threw 90 pitches in the game and 15 more in the bullpen.
"We started with a goal of around 100 pitches," Quintana said. "It's good when you throw not too many pitches in the game and you have to go to the bullpen."
Mariners: Hernandez said he was asked to go one more inning after he finished the fifth and said he felt good enough to continue. He said his fastball and slider were sharp while the changeup wasn't so much, but he liked the control of his fastball.
"Right where I want to be," he said.
"Felix was sharp, mixing in all his stuff. We were a little worried early his pitch count was up a bit the first couple of innings," Servais said. "But he had an easy fifth, got through the sixth right at 80 pitches, which was exactly what we wanted to get today."
UP NEXT
White Sox: LHP Carlos Rodon faces the Cincinnati Reds and Carson Fulmer is scheduled against the Los Angeles Dodgers in split-squad action.
Mariners: Wade Miley will go against a Dodgers split-squad and Scott Kazmir, and Hisashi Iwakuma will pitch in a minor league game.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.
