News » Tyler O'Neill will likely see an increase in action

ARLINGTON http://www.bluejaysfanproshop.com/authen...ron-loup-jersey , Texas (AP) — Felix Hernandez briefly looked like the ace he used to be for the Seattle Mariners, even playfully pointing former teammate Adrian Beltre back to the dugout after striking out baseball’s active career hits leader.After getting through the first two innings unscathed Tuesday night, including another entertaining on-field exchange with his friend, the struggles returned for the former AL Cy Young Award winner.Beltre grounded into a double play to end the third, but only after the Texas Rangers had scored four runs that inning to put them ahead to stay. And when Beltre homered to straightaway center in the sixth, it marked the most runs Hernandez has ever given up in his career.“Yeah, I’m frustrated. What can I say? What can I say?” Hernandez said after giving up all the runs in six innings of an 11-4 loss.Hernandez (8-10) is 0-4 in his last five starts for the playoff-contending Mariners. This was the only time in that span he pitched more than five innings.Robinson Chirinos, the No. 7 batter, led off the Texas third with a walk before Willie Calhoun’s single and a bunt hit by No. 9 batter Carlos Tocci loaded the bases. A groundout pushed home a run before Rouged Odor’s two-run double and a tiebreaking single by Elvis Andrus Matt Adams Jersey , whose 18-game hitting streak is the longest active in the majors and his career high.“Yeah, I lost my command after the first two innings. Just leaving it in the middle of the plate and making a lot of mistakes,” Hernandez said.“Yeah, got off to a decent start. The walks hurt him a little bit tonight again, two or three leadoff walks tonight. Those guys came around to score,” manager Scott Servais said. “I thought we got off to a good start in the game, just it turned on us.”Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager had back-to-back homers to start the second, then Dee Gordon had a leadoff triple an inning later before coming home on a three-bagger by Denard Span for a 3-0 Mariners lead against Bartolo Colon.Colon retired 14 of the last 16 batters he faced after that and became the top-winning pitcher born in Latin America, punctuating his 246th career victory when he reached out and snagged a comeback liner by Gordon for the last out of the seventh.On his sixth try since earning his 245th win on June 30 to match the mark held by Nicaragua’s Dennis Martinez http://www.nationalsfanproshop.com/authe...vin-long-jersey , the portly 45-year-old Rangers right-hander hurler from the Dominican Republic finally had the record to himself.“It was a long journey, but it finally came and it feels good,” Colon said.Beltre, Jurickson Profar and Odor all homered off Hernandez, whose spot in the rotation doesn’t seem certain down the stretch.“Yeah, we’ll see. You have to take a look at where we’re at going forward here,” Servais said. “The next time that spot comes around, we’ll be over in Houston. They’ve also got a good club. We’ve got to give ourselves a chance every time out there to win the ballgame. It’s tough to win. I like the signs of our offense. Our offense is coming around.”Hernandez, whose 168 career wins are the most by a Venezuelan-born pitcher http://www.nationalsfanproshop.com/authe...n-benoit-jersey , struck out two and walked four. He was hurt by two errors by third baseman Kyle Seager that led to four unearned runs.“I was just bad tonight, didn’t catch them,” Seager said.Profar’s three-run homer made it 8-4 in the fifth right after Seager misplayed Beltre’s two-out grounder.“Errors happen. They are part of the game. You got to keep grinding through it,” Servais said. “Just wasn’t able to make pitches after that. Left the ball up to Profar, which kind of sealed our fate here tonight.”BIG BLASTCruz reached 30 homers for the fourth consecutive season since joining the Mariners. Only Ken Griffey Jr. has more 30-homer seasons in Seattle with six. Alex Rodriguez had four with the Mariners at the start of his big league career.UP NEXTYovani Gallardo, 6-1 since rejoining Texas in mid-June for the first time since 2015, starts the series finale. Mariners lefty Marco Gonzales (12-6) had won five starts in a row with a 1.57 ERA before losing Friday against Toronto. Dilip Vishwanat/Getty ImagesSt. Louis Cardinals outfielder Marcell Ozunawas placed on the disabled list on Wednesday due to right shoulder inflammation.The team announced the move as well as corresponding transactions via Twitter:St. Louis Cardinals CardinalsThe #STLCards have activated Yairo Mu帽oz from the 10-day disabled list and placed OF Marcell Ozuna (right shoulder inflammation) on the 10-day DL. The club also activated Matt Adams following his waiver claim and optioned RHP Daniel Poncedeleon to Memphis (AAA). nOQblwSg6qHe managed to stay in good health the past two years on his way to making back-to-back All-Star teams, averaging 153 games per season.After hitting 23 home runs in 2016, Ozuna upped his game last year in terms of average and power. He slashed .312/.376/.548 with 37 home runs Ryan Zimmerman Jersey , 30 doubles and 124 RBI last season.The27-year-old was hitting .275/.319/.409with 16home runs, 13 doubles and 69RBI in his first season with St. Louis.The Cardinals made a run at 2017 National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton during the offseason but had to "settle" for Ozuna as an offensive upgrade. Now, the team will have to figure out how to score runs without its star slugger.If Ozuna misses time, Tyler O'Neill will likely see an increase in action. The 23-year-old is a former third-round pick and a career .273 in six seasons in the minors. He does have quite a bit of pop in his bat as well, as he slugged 24-plus home runs in four consecutive seasons. O'Neill is the organization's No. 2 overall prospect, according to MLB.com.St. Louis doesn't have great major-league ready outfield depth at the moment following the trade of Tommy Pham at the deadline. Other than O'Neill, utility man Yairo Munoz (.284 average with six home runs, 12 doubles and 31 RBI in 76 games) could also see some time in the outfield.The Cardinals acquired Ozuna because they thought he could be the impact bat in the middle of the order they were missing鈥攕o losing him for any amount of time will be tough for them to deal with.St. Louis has fought back into contention with a 16-4 August thus far, and Ozuna was a big part of the surge http://www.nationalsfanproshop.com/authe...on-werth-jersey , hitting .321 with three home runs, three doubles, one triple and 11 RBI in 20 games this month. Losing his bat at this point won't help the Cardinals' postseason push, although the addition of Matt Adams could help them push through.