ESPN

For four innings, it was looking like a potentially landmark night for Felix Hernandez, in a Seattle season that has had few bright spots. The King was not only cruising on the big stage against the Mets, beating Johan Santana and having retired all but one hitter he faced, but also his second-inning grand slam off the league's preeminent pitcher was the first by an AL hurler in more than 37 years, and the first homer for a Mariners pitcher ever.

Then came the fifth inning. Carlos Beltran, who had doubled and stolen third, tried to score on a wild pitch, and Hernandez ran to the plate to take a short throw from catcher Jeff Clement. It never came. The resulting collision was just the latest in a nightmare of a season for poor Seattle Mariners fans. Clement held onto the ball and dove to the plate, Beltran eluded him and while scoring slid into the pitcher. A great night for Hernandez had turned awry fast.

Hernandez sprained his right ankle. He hopped and limped around before falling to the ground, and a few minutes later threw a warmup pitch that he couldn't complete effectively without great pain. New Mariners manager Jim Riggleman wisely resisted Hernandez's pleas to attempt another warmup pitch, and the 22-year-old pitcher was helped off the field.

Things probably couldn't get much worse for the Mariners, who are already sporting the worst record in baseball. Earlier in the evening it was announced Erik Bedard would miss his Wednesday start with back spasms, the same malady that forced him from Friday's outing in Atlanta. Bedard, who cost the Mariners a few top prospects in the offseason trade with Baltimore, is 4-4 with a 3.97 ERA in 13 starts, hardly ace numbers, and has already served one DL stint. Miguel Batista, fresh off recording nary an out in a blown weekend save, is scheduled to start Wednesday at the Mets.

How battered is the Seattle pitching staff? With J.J. Putz on the DL, Brandon Morrow out since last week with back spasms and Batista and his 6.26 ERA and 1.89 WHIP now headed back to the rotation, Sean Green was summoned to close Monday's game. He put a few men on base, and Arthur Rhodes earned his first save since 2006. Roy Corcoran relieved Hernandez with a 2-2 count on Ramon Castro in the fifth, one strike away from qualifying the starter for the win, but the official scorer decided to credit Ryan Rowland-Smith, who pitched the seventh and eighth innings, with the win. If you own Corcoran, sorry, no win for you!

None of that mattered after the game, as thoughts again turned to Hernandez and the severity of the ankle injury. Hernandez said he won't miss his next scheduled start (Sunday against Padres ace Jake Peavy), but with the Mariners not playoff-bound, they shouldn't take their chances with such a huge part of their future.

• Past editions: 6/23: Hail, Duke | 6/22: Dice-K not OK | 6/21: Jays' bad offense

Hernandez messed with the Johan, hitting the first pitch he saw over the right center field fence for a grand slam. But the night wasn't really so bad for Santana, who fell to 7-6. His ERA went down, as all four of those runs were unearned thanks to a David Wright error. Santana allowed one earned run in seven strong innings, lowering his ERA to 2.93. By the way, the last AL pitcher to hit a slam was Cleveland's Steve Dunning off Oakland's Diego Segui on May 11, 1971. ... Beltran might be a hated man in the Pacific Northwest, but fantasy owners are warming up to him. With two more hits in four at-bats and the steal of third base, Beltran has four home runs and four stolen bases in his past nine games and has raised his batting average 15 points. ... Ben Sheets continued his road dominance by tossing a four-hitter at Atlanta, allowing one run. Sheets won his fifth straight decision, is 6-0 on the road and leads the NL with three complete games. Hey, nobody questions this guy's ability, just his durability, but if Rich Harden can do it, so can Sheets. ... Yunel Escobar returned to the Braves' lineup after missing two games, going hitless in four at-bats, while Chipper Jones missed his third straight start but reported improvement in his strained right quad. Kelly Johnson again batted third and scored the lone Braves run. ... Mike Cameron hit his 12th home run of the season, a pretty neat trick considering he missed all but eight at-bats in April because of a suspension. Cameron is on pace for 37 home runs. His career mark is 30, set in 2004 with the Mets. We should point out Cameron is also hitting .224. ... Dan Haren outdueled Josh Beckett at Fenway Park, allowing two hits and no runs over seven innings. Brandon Webb gets the attention as Arizona's ace, but Haren's ERA is nearly half a run lower. ... Brandon Lyon retired the Red Sox in order in the ninth for his 16th save, throwing only five pitches, all strikes. ... Jeff Francis entered Monday with a 2.88 ERA in four June starts, but the Royals tagged him for four first-inning runs and scored seven times in 4 1/3 innings. ... Clint Barmes returned from the DL after a month and batted ninth, singling and scoring a run. Jeff Baker remained in the lineup as the DH after hitting .435 with four home runs playing second base last week. Batting second, Baker singled in five at-bats, scored a run and had an RBI. ... Brian Bannister entered Monday with a 1-5 record and 6.81 ERA in night games, and was 5-1 with a 3.29 ERA during the day. He stymied the Rockies over seven innings at night, though, allowing three hits and three runs, all unearned. The six walks were odd, since Bannister hadn't walked anyone in three starts. The Royals were the lone home team to emerge victorious Monday. ... John Lackey lowered his ERA to 1.65 and won for the fifth time in nine starts. ... Washington's Jason Bergmann had the lead over Lackey into the eighth inning, until reliever Saul Rivera surrendered it. Bergmann hasn't won in eight starts. ... Chone Figgins stole his third base in 10 games since coming off the DL, and he's singled in all but one of those games.