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SEATTLE -- Riding the longest win streak in baseball that put them back into the playoff conversation, the Seattle Mariners return home was a collective dud. Custom Ozzie Smith Jersey .Worst of all may have been seeing Felix Hernandez stumble in his biggest start of the season.We are playing really good ball and to come in here and kind of throw a clunker out there, not exactly what we were looking for tonight, but it does happen, Seattle manager Scott Servais said.Collin McHugh allowed just two hits in seven stellar innings and Hernandez failed to make it through the fifth as the Houston Astros ended Seattles eight-game win streak with a 6-0 win on Friday night.Seattle dropped to three games behind Baltimore and Toronto in the AL wild-card race after McHugh baffled the Mariners all night. He didnt allow a base runner until Nori Aokis leadoff single in the fourth inning and Seattles only other hit off McHugh was Kyle Seagers single with two outs in the seventh.McHugh (11-10) improved to 9-3 in his career against Seattle and 4-0 this season with a 1.08 ERA. McHugh is 6-0 in his career at Safeco Field.We just dont see the ball well off of him, Servais said. We knew going into the game tonight was going to be a challenge for us, but he was certainly on top of his game.Meanwhile, Hernandez (11-6) stumbled in his biggest start of the season. With the Mariners back in contention, Hernandez failed to get through five innings, giving up five earned runs and eight hits.For Seattle fans it was a similarly disappointing outing by Hernandez to the 2014 season when Seattle was in the wild-card race but lasted only 4 2/3 innings in a 10-2 loss at Toronto in the final week of the season. Fortunately these Mariners still have 15 games remaining.Disappointing. Its a poor performance by me, Hernandez said. You know what, tomorrow is another day. Weve just got to keep fighting.Solo homers by Evan Gattis and Marwin Gonzalez in the fifth were the capper to Hernandezs miserable night. Gattis led off the inning with his 27th home run and Gonzalez followed with his 13th that knocked Hernandez from the game. Gonzalez now has 37 career home runs, 11 of those against Seattle.Hernandez was in trouble long before the two home runs. Jake Marisnicks two-run double in the second inning gave Houston the lead and the Astros added on with Carlos Correas RBI double in the third after Jose Altuve reached on an error and Yuli Gurriel added an RBI single in the fourth.I missed a lot of spots today, Hernandez said. I was pretty much in the middle of the plate. Ball was moving all over the place, I got behind a lot and they got me.Houston manager A.J. Hinch praised the patience of his hitters not expanding the strike zone against Hernandez and making him throw strikes.We didnt chase a lot tonight and if you dont chase with him and you make him bring the ball in the strike zone hes human again, Hinch said.SHUT DOWNSeattle was shutout for just the second time since July 24 and sixth time this season. Five of those have come at Safeco Field. The Mariners also had their streak of 14 straight games with a home run snapped.The three hits were the fewest for the Mariners since a 10-1 loss at Pittsburgh on July 27.TRAINERS ROOMAstros: 3B Alex Bregman could miss the rest of the regular season with a hamstring injury suffered on Wednesday. Bregman did not travel with the team for its road trip and remained in Houston to get treatment.Mariners: Even after a day off, 1B Adam Lind still had some pain around his thumb and was out of the lineup for a fourth straight game. Servais was hopeful Lind would be available on Saturday.UP NEXTAstros: RHP Mike Fiers (10-7) makes his 28th start of the season. Fiers lasted just 3 1/3 innings in his only other start against Seattle this season, giving up four earned runs.Mariners: LHP James Paxton (4-6) will make his fifth start since coming off the disabled list on Aug. 25 but does not have a win since Aug. 7. Custom Padres Jerseys . If ever they start actually putting pictures beside words in the dictionary, the Blue Jays left-handers mug will appear beside “Consistency. Cheap Custom Padres Jersey .com) - The Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks both take aim at their first wins of the season on Saturday, as the Canucks open their home slate at Rogers Arena. http://www.custompadresjersey.com/ .com) - The red-hot Los Angeles Kings will try to extend their winning streak to a season-high seven games when they visit the Edmonton Oilers for Sundays clash at Rexall Place. RIO DE JANEIRO -- They are the purple circles that set social media on fire Sunday night, the circular bruises on Michael Phelps right shoulder that left television viewers around the world wondering if the most decorated Olympian of all-time had contracted some rare skin disease, been attacked by an octopus, or perhaps was part-Dalmatian.The answer, of course, was none of the above. The bruises were the result of a form of cupping therapy Phelps had endured Sunday morning to treat some shoulder discomfort that set in after waiting in line for 40 minutes at the Olympic Village wearing a backpack. A day later, the mysterious circles became an international inquisition. Following Phelps prelim swim in the 200 butterfly on Monday, the first question a reporter asked a perplexed Phelps was about cupping.Ive done this for a while, he said. I asked for a little cupping yesterday and [trainer Keenan Robinson] hit me pretty hard with one and it left a couple bruises.Robinson, USA Swimmings director of high performance, was equally entertained Monday, suggesting that all the attention over the $30 cups was missing the bigger picture of all that goes into preparing Phelps and other athletes to compete at their highest levels.Its like asking a chef about his garnish when youre missing the main meal, Robinson said. Youve got this beautiful steak and vegetable medley -- thats what youre paying $75 for. Not the garnish. But this recovery modality shows the blemishes when he walks around, so people ask.The practice of Chinese cupping has been around for more than 2,000 years. But Robinson and USA Swimming chiropractor Kevin Rindal said that the form of therapy used on Phelps is somewhat different. Its essentially the opposite of a massage, using the suction from perfectly circular cups to manipulate and help separate the various layers of fascia and muscle beneath the skin. The end result is decreased discomfort and an increase in range of motion.Think of us as an Indy Car pit crew, Rindal said, looking at the structure and alignment of the vehicle to see if there is any kind of drag or anything. And if you think of how close these racers are, a little bit of restriction adds up in each stroke and can prevent a full reach. Its basically the fine-tuning of the tissue.Robinson, Phelps longtime trainer, said he has been using the therapy on Phelps since the fall of 2014. He brought the idea to the swimmer as a way to help the then-29-year-old recover from his two-a-day training sessions.Mike is probably the best at telling you whats voodoo and whats actually working, Robinson said. Hee was like, OK Keen-dog, what are you bringing me this time? But then hell do it and instantaneously hell tell you its hokey-pokey business or if its kind of effective. Authentic Custom Padres Jersey. Phelps took to the treatment and, according to Robinson, has used it about twice a week since. Sometimes it can leave dark red bruises, other times there is no mark at all. The visibility of the bruising or lack thereof has no impact on whether or not the sometimes painful therapy has been effective. Since Phelps began using the treatment several other athletes have followed suit, including Dana Vollmer, who has already won two medals in Rio 17 months after giving birth.I know it looks weird but it really helps with blood flow, helps pull swelling out of different areas, she said. It works great for a lot of us.Added U.S. teammate Cody Miller: Its superficial bruising. Its not real bruising. Your muscle tissue isnt torn up in there. Its pulling blood into a certain area where tension has built. Its great. My fiancee does it to me in training.Robinson said that the training staff is constantly evaluating all the U.S. swimmers and the tension, stress and range of motion in their joints. Everything from massages to stretching to ice baths to the Graston technique, a form of therapy that uses instruments to massage the skin, can be used to treat inflammation or increase range of motion.We dont want people banged up, he said. We dont want broken products here at the Games.Not everyone agrees the cupping treatment even works. As is often the case with any type of alternative therapy, it takes just a few minutes online to find a detractor who doesnt believe there is a correlation between the treatment and athletic success. Robinson suggests the naysayers are wrong.Im not just going to throw a stick of butter on him and say, Well, I read that Usain Bolt or whoever is doing this, Robinson said. Im going to have an educated approach to it. You can stand on either side of the spectrum that it doesnt work. But we know the science says it is not detrimental and in some cases can really help out.In other words, its the latest in a long line of high-performance therapy fads that include everything from electrotherapy and cryotherapy (ice baths) to Kinesio tape and acupuncture needles. But this one has now been endorsed by the most decorated Olympian of all-time, after one of the most impressive races of his career.Its going to blow-up now, Robinson said. Actually, it just did. ' ' '