Two years ago, Hernandez opened against the A's and threw a three-hit shutout for eight innings.

Monday was the 105th start of Hernandez's career and his 40th career win, not bad for someone who doesn't turn 23 until Wednesday.

Although he has a reputation as a power pitcher, Hernandez has shown a mastery of the bottom of the strike zone. He got 24 outs Monday against the Twins, and 13 of those were groundballs. Another six were strikeouts.

Hernandez gave the Mariners a scare early when he turned his right ankle slightly while fielding a second-inning foul grounder off the bat of Twins designated hitter Jason Kubel. But he struck around for eight innings, retiring the final 10 batters he faced.

MARINERS 6, TWINS 1: RF Ken Griffey Jr. celebrated his return to a Mariners uniform with a home run in his second at-bat in support of RHP Felix Hernandez.

Griffey, who had 398 homers in his first tour of duty with the Mariners, set up the first run with a grounder that got 3B Adrian Beltre to third base. His second time up, Griffey crushed a homer high over the baggy in right field.

Hernandez survived twisting his right ankle in the first inning, but he was in command throughout, throwing 23 strikes to the 31 batters he faced as new manager Don Wakamatsu registered his first win.