A classic first inning for Felix

Talk about a good start to a busy spring.

It was all of that for Mariners right-hander Felix Hernandez this afternoon, when he threw four pitches in the first inning and recorded three outs. Bang, bang, bang, take a seat.

The second inning went a tad differently for the staff ace. He needed 19 pitches to get three outs, and then called it a day.

“All fastballs,” he said of his first inning repertoire. “I was throwing fastballs and they were swinging. That was it.”

The Padres tagged him for four hits and two runs in the second, but overall, he said it was a decent first outing.

“I just wanted to command my fastball on both sides of the plate and that’s why I threw a lot of fastballs. It worked. Not in the second inning, but it worked.”

Felix’s next stop is Orlando, Fla., where he will join Venezuela’s World Baseball Classic team on Sunday for four days of workouts before the team leaves for Toronto and the first round of the Classic. He is expected to be the starting pitcher in the opener against Italy.

— Jim Street