Baseball

Teen ace keeps Oakland fading

OAKLAND, Calif. - On the mound, Felix Hernandez exhibits the poise and confidence of a veteran. It's afterward when he shows signs of his true age, giggling and fidgeting with his towel as he discusses his day.

The teen phenom dazzled again, and Adrian Beltre and Greg Dobbs each had an RBI to provide the necessary run support in the Seattle Mariners' 2-0 win over the struggling Athletics on Monday.

"My age doesn't matter," Hernandez said. "I'm a good pitcher. ... Once I'm on my game, I can't fail."

Yuniesky Betancourt had a triple for Seattle, which handed the A's their fifth loss in six games and their third shutout defeat in five games and league-high 12th this season.

Hernandez, 19, pitched seven shutout innings to beat rookie Joe Blanton, giving up just one fly ball that reached the outfield.

"He stuck it to us," A's manager Ken Macha said.

The A's dropped 11/2 games behind the Angels in the West and 11/2 back of the Yankees in the wild card. Oakland lost two of three to New York in a weekend series, then dropped the opener of an important series against last-place Seattle.

The A's quickly understood the hype around Hernandez in the club's first glimpse of the dominant right-hander, who made his seventh major-league start.

Hernandez's first three pitches were fastballs clocked at 96, 98 and 97 mph, then struck out leadoff hitter Mark Ellis with an 83 mph curveball.

Hernandez hasn't allowed more than three runs in any of his outings.

WHITE SOX 5, RED SOX 3: Brandon McCarthy pitched seven shutout innings and Paul Konerko homered off Curt Schilling as Chicago won its fifth straight.

Juan Uribe had a single, double and homer as the White Sox dropped their magic number to clinch the Central to 17. Boston lost for the third time in 24 home games to fall to three games ahead of the idle Yankees in the East.

McCarthy allowed three hits and a walk, striking out seven. The right-hander, 22, who has been up and down from Triple A since making his major-league debut May 22, has won both starts in his latest recall to improve his ERA from 8.14 to 5.08.

Schilling gave up four runs on nine hits, three walks and a hit batter in 61/3 innings, striking out four. The former ace, who is recovering from ankle surgery, allowed fewer than five earned runs for the first time in six starts this season.

INDIANS 2, TIGERS 0: Scott Elarton won for the first time in more than a month, allowing four hits in 61/3 innings as visiting Cleveland pulled within 11/2 games of the wild-card lead. Jose Hernandez homered to help send Detroit to its fifth straight loss. The Tigers haven't scored in 19 innings. Elarton walked two and struck out six, combining with two relievers on an eight-hitter.

RANGERS 7, TWINS 0: David Dellucci hit a three-run double to back Kameron Loe's strong start for visiting Texas. Loe allowed five hits in eight innings, the longest of his three starts this season. C.J. Wilson pitched a one-hit ninth as the Rangers won for the 11th time in 15 games.

BLUE JAYS 6, ORIOLES 2: Gustavo Chacin took a three-hitter into the seventh and Shea Hillenbrand scored and drove in a run for visiting Toronto. Chacin gave up one run, four hits and a walk in 61/3 innings for his first win in seven starts since July 31.

[Last modified September 6, 2005, 03:15:21]