DETROIT (AP) - James McCann homered in the second inning, then Justin Upton and Alex Avila followed suit in the fourth.
The Detroit Tigers were just getting started.
Detroit added nine more runs in a fifth-inning onslaught , and despite the usual shakiness from the bullpen, the Tigers went on to rout the Seattle Mariners 19-9 on Tuesday night. Felix Hernandez was bothered by a stiff shoulder and allowed four runs in two innings. The next two Seattle pitchers didn’t fare any better.
The teams combined for 40 hits and 14 walks.
“Don’t know if I’ve ever been a part of a game like that before,” McCann said.
It was the shortest outing for Hernandez (2-2) since 2015. Detroit finished with 24 hits, 19 of which came in the first five innings. That was despite injuries that kept Miguel Cabrera, J.D. Martinez and Jose Iglesias out of the lineup.
Jordan Zimmermann (2-1) allowed five runs in six innings. Jean Segura, Danny Valencia and Nelson Cruz hit solo homers for Seattle, but that wasn’t nearly enough to keep up with Detroit.
Mikie Mahtook added another home run for the Tigers in the eighth. Ian Kinsler had four hits and four runs before being lifted for a pinch hitter in the seventh.
Detroit’s record for runs in a game is 21, last achieved on July 1, 1936.
The 40 combined hits broke the Comerica Park record of 38 set by the Tigers and Chicago White Sox on April 13, 2006.
Hernandez squandered an early 2-0 lead, allowing a run in the first and three in the second. McCann’s two-run homer put Detroit ahead 3-2.
It was the shortest outing for Hernandez since he lasted only a third of an inning at Houston on June 12, 2015.
Reliever Chris Heston allowed a two-run homer by Upton in the fourth, then Avila followed with a solo shot to make it 7-2. Segura and Valencia hit consecutive homers for Seattle in the fifth, but the Tigers broke the game open when they sent 13 hitters to the plate in the bottom of the inning.
Andrew Romine, Kinsler and Tyler Collins had two hits apiece that inning. It was the most runs for Detroit in an inning since a nine-run fifth at Texas on Sept. 17, 2008.
“It’s definitely better to be on that side of it than the other side of it,” McCann said. “It’s always fun to see your teammates get hits.”
Segura returned from the disabled list for Seattle and made an immediate contribution, but Hernandez was gone after two innings, and Mariners outfielder Mitch Haniger left in the third with a strained oblique.
“That’s a tough game,” second baseman Robinson Cano said. “First we lose Mitch, who has been our best hitter all season, and then we lose Felix, who is our number one pitcher. Those are the two guys we really don’t want to lose.”
Hernandez and Haniger were set to return to Seattle to be checked by doctors.
After Hernandez left the game, Heston allowed five runs in two innings, and Evan Marshall allowed seven runs in two innings.
DRAGGING IT OUT
The Tigers led 16-5 when they turned the game over to the bullpen in the seventh. Five relievers combined to walk seven batters over the final three innings.
“It can’t happen,” manager Brad Ausmus said. “You can give up runs, but you can’t walk guys, you can’t get behind hitters. We walked way too many.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mariners: Kyle Seager, who has been dealing with soreness in his right hip, did not play.
Tigers: Cabrera (groin), Martinez (foot), Iglesias (concussion) and JaCoby Jones (lip) are on the DL.
UP NEXT
Mariners: LHP James Paxton (2-0) starts for Seattle against the Tigers on Wednesday night in the second game of this series.
Tigers: LHP Daniel Norris (1-1) takes the mound for Detroit. Norris allowed four earned runs in his start last week at Tampa Bay, ending a streak of 21 starts with three or fewer.
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