DETROIT -- Mariners ace Felix Hernandez is headed back to Seattle to see the team's physician on Tuesday night after feeling tightness in his right shoulder and being removed after two innings in a 19-9 loss to the Tigers.
Manager Scott Servais said the 31-year-old felt fatigue in the shoulder. He'll undergo an MRI and be evaluated in Seattle while the team continues a 10-game road trip that he was scheduled to conclude with a Sunday start in Cleveland.
Hernandez gave up six hits and four runs with two walks before being replaced by Chris Heston to start the third.
"He just didn't have much tonight," Servais said. "It's like dead arm as much as anything. He didn't have pain or anything like that. It's just nothing was coming out and he didn't feel good."
Servais didn't have an idea how long Hernandez would be out.
"Anytime it's a pitcher and shoulder, it's a concern, no doubt," he said. "He's a horse, he's our guy and we're going to need him. But hopefully he's OK."
Hernandez has only had two shorter starts in his career. One was an injury-shortened one-third-of-an-inning outing in 2007 against the Twins, and the other was a one-third-of-an-inning clunker in Houston in 2015 when he allowed eight runs on five hits and two walks with two homers before being pulled.
The six-time All-Star is now 2-2 with a 4.73 ERA in five starts.
Hernandez left the clubhouse without talking to reporters. Teammate Robinson Cano said he noticed Hernandez flexing his arm on the mound in the second inning and wondered what was up.
"I didn't see anything until the last inning when he was moving his arm and I thought, 'Uh oh, that looks weird,'" Cano said. "But I hope it's not too bad. He'll get an MRI, and maybe it's just some inflammation and nothing too bad."
With hot-hitting rookie right fielder Mitch Haniger pulled in the third inning due to a strained oblique, it was a rough game outside of the 19-9 score.
"He's our ace. It's hard to see that happen," Cano said. "You never want to see that happen, not just to your ace, but anybody in here. Losing two of your best players is hard. But we're going to deal with that. It's a game. We've got to keep battling with what we have here. I just hope it's nothing major."
Hernandez has only been on the disabled list twice in his career, the last time coming last season when he missed seven weeks with a strained calf muscle and wound up snapping a string of eight consecutive seasons of 200-plus innings.