The New York Yankees opened a three-game series in Seattle and got their hitting sticks out as they pounded Felix Hernandez and the Mariners en route to a 7-2 win. When the pitching matchup of Felix Hernandez and Michael Pineda was announced, it seemed runs would be at a minimum. However, on Monday night it was a different story as "Kings Court" was silenced as King Felix gave up seven runs, while Pineda stuck to his former club with a brilliant performance.

Felix Hernandez through three innings was perfect and threw just 21 pitches. It didn't look like he was going to give up a hit for quite some time in this one, but that quickly changed. In the fourth he gave up a leadoff single to Brett Gardner who eventually scored on a wild pitch, and then Felix started to lose control with walks and base hits. Brian McCann hit into a double play later in the inning which made it 2-0, but that was just the start.

In the fifth, it really started to fall apart. Chase Headley hit a sacrifice fly to left to make it 3-0 which was followed by an Alex Rodriguez single to load the bases. After that, Mark Teixiera went way gone to right field for a grand slam to put New York up 7-0. Two batters later Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said enough was enough as he pulled the hook on 'The King" after just 4.2 innings. Felix gave up seven runs on six hits and walked five Yankees while striking out four. It was his shortest outing since last September in Toronto.

One thing that happened during the fourth and fifth innings that could've affected Felix was that the roof at Safeco Field being left open when it started to rain (Seattle and rain, hmm). With a muddy pitching mound that leads to spikes full of mud, it could've had an affect on his balance when following through. It all started going down hill when the rain started, but I'm sure Felix will not use that as an excuse for his poor outing. It sure didn't affect the Yankees starter, however.

Michael Pineda on the other hand for New York was stellar as he lasted six plus innings while giving up two runs on seven hits with nine strike outs and only two walks. Pineda had it going with the strike outs in Seattle as that is his strong suit. I'm sure he had at least a little bit of a chip on his shoulder pitching against his former team.

Seattle got two back in the seventh on the back of a Seth Smith triple and an Austin Jackson double which chased Pineda from this one. It really wasn't too bad of a night at the plate for the Mariners as Austin Jackson and Kyle Seager both checked in with two hits. Both sides tallied seven hits in this ballgame. They did, however, strike out 13 times.

When it came down to it, it just wasn't the night for Felix and the Mariners who have lost three-straight and now will fall three games under .500 at 24-27 after getting back to even on Friday night versus Cleveland. For the Yankees, they were looking to rebound after losing three of four in their series over the weekend in Oakland.

Game two of this three game series matches up C.C. Sabathia for the Yankees against Mike Montgomery for the Mariners who will make his big league debut in the spot of James Paxton who is on the DL.

WP: Michael Pineda (7-2, 3.33 ERA)

LP: Felix Hernandez (8-2, 2.63 ERA)