SEATTLE — When the time finally arrived for Félix Hernández to say goodbye to Seattle and all the history of 15 seasons with one franchise, his manager had a message as he walked off the mound.
“You will always be the king in this town,” Scott Servais said to Hernandez as he took the ball.
With tears in his eyes, the emotional Hernández walked off the mound as a Mariner probably for the final time in his career on Thursday night. He was the losing pitcher in a 3-1 loss to Oakland as the Athletics moved to the brink of clinching an American League wild-card berth.
It was his final start in his final year under contract with Seattle, the only place he’s called home as a professional. Both sides seem ready for a separation, which turned the night into a farewell and thank you all wrapped into one.
He wasn’t the “King Felix” of his dominant years on this night. He was a 33-year-old pitcher looking for one more magical outing to thrill the thousands of fans who turned out for his farewell.
“I didn’t want to just give up five runs in five innings. I wanted to go out there and do my job and just give the team a chance to win,” Hernandez said. “That was a fun night.”
Unfortunately for Hernández (1-8), the A’s have something to play for and weren’t willing to go along with festivities. Oakland can clinch one of the two wild-card spots in the AL with a win or Cleveland loss today.
Matt Olson had an RBI single in the first inning and Matt Chapman hit a two-run homer in the second. Sean Manaea (4-1) allowed one run in six innings and Liam Hendriks got his 25th save.
Even in the middle of a playoff race, the A’s understood the magnitude of the night.
“That was awesome. I grew up watching him, definitely watched a lot of YouTube videos on him just trying to kind of do mechanics like him in my living room at the house,” Manaea said. “Lot of memories watching him pitch, and seeing him walk off the mound like that was pretty incredible. I’m glad I got to watch that. It was really, really cool.”
From the start, this night was a tribute to one of the Mariners’ greats, who will be remembered in the same regard as Hall of Famer Edgar Martinez for his loyalty to the franchise and performance on the mound during his best seasons. He brought Seattle a Cy Young Award and a perfect game.
More so, Hernández had chances to leave and never did, which made the night so emotional.
“I was walking to the bullpen and my eyes started to (get) wet and I was like ‘not right now.’ It’s hard to do it,” Hernandez said. “There were a lot of emotions out there. I’ve been here for 15 years and there is a lot of stuff going on.”
The 10,000 fans of the “King’s Court,” clad in yellow on three levels down the left-field line rose with every two-strike count, chanting, willing, hoping for a Hernández strikeout.
Oakland Seattle
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Semien ss 4 1 0 0 Long 2b 4 0 0 0
Chapman 3b 3 2 1 2 Crawford ss 4 0 0 0
Olson 1b 5 0 2 1 Lewis rf 3 0 0 0
Laureano cf 4 0 2 0 Seager 3b 3 1 2 0
Brown lf 3 0 0 0 Nola 1b-c 3 0 1 1
Profar 2b 2 0 0 0 Narvaez c 2 0 0 0
Neuse 2b 0 0 0 0 Lopes ph-lf 1 0 0 0
Pinder dh 4 0 0 0 Santana dh 3 0 1 0
Grossman rf 4 0 0 0 Moore lf-1b 3 0 0 0
S.Murphy c 4 0 1 0 Smith cf 3 0 0 0
Totals 33 3 6 3 Totals 29 1 4 1
Oakland 120 000 000 — 3
Seattle 000 010 000 — 1
E—Long (3), Narvaez (6). DP—Oakland 1, Seattle 1. LOB—Oakland 9, Seattle 1. 2B—Nola (11). HR—Chapman (36).
IP H R ER BB SO
Oakland
Manaea W,4-0 6 4 1 1 0 5
Luzardo H,2 2 0 0 0 0 3
Hendriks S,25-31 1 0 0 0 0 2
Seattle
Hernandez L,1-8 51/3 5 3 3 4 3
Brennan 2/3 1 0 0 0 0
Tuivailala 1 0 0 0 1 0
Altavilla 1 0 0 0 0 2
Wisler 1 0 0 0 0 1
HBP—Tuivailala (Chapman).
Umpires—Home, Angel Hernandez; First, Chad Fairchild; Second, Ryan Blakney; Third, Marvin Hudson.
T—2:39. A—20,921 (47,943).
