Mariners Greatest Hits: “The King” Felix Hernandez Top Performances

June 30th, 2010

Backed by a complete effort on the offensive side of the ball, Hernandez lit up the New York Yankees and Yankee Stadium with his mesmerizing electric repertoire this evening.

Coming off of an impressive 2009 campaign in which Hernandez finished 2nd in the American League Cy Young voting, the Venezuelan-native clearly wanted to prove that he could win the award the next season.

This mid-summer game against the Yankees was one of the many highlights of his Cy Young year and was arguably one of his best games ever.

Up to this point in his career, Hernandez had allowed two hits or fewer in six games. After five years and about 150 games, Hernandez was about to achieve this feat for just the 7th time.

The 2010 Yankees were a force to be reckoned with combining for the highest-powered offense that year averaging 5.3 runs per game. By year’s end, they would have the third-best record in all of baseball and would make it all the way to the ALCS.

That didn’t stop the lowly Mariners who, at the time of the June 30th game, had the 3rd worst record in the league while the Yankees had the best.

The Mariners took the first game of the series with a convincing 7-4 victory. The next night, with Hernandez on the mound, the Bronx Bombers would struggle to score one run, and would rarely have a man on base.

Seattle Mariners

You wouldn’t have known that Hernandez was going to have such a great game after a shaky 1st inning. He started the night by walking two of the 1st five batters he faced and threw a wild pitch. Whatever transpired in the dugout after that poor start would flip his outing on its head.

Over the next three frames, Hernandez would fan three batters (one in each inning) while surrendering just one hit (a double to Mark Teixeira).

After allowing another two-bagger in the 5th to Colin Curtis, Hernandez would kick his game into high gear.

Of the last 15 batters he faced that night, only one would reach base, and the was via a free pass. He would strikeout five of those men to finish with a tally of 11 K’s.

After that rough beginning, Hernandez would finish the night with a line of 9IP, 2H, 3BB, and 11K.

It was his 11th career complete game up to that point and his 5th career shutout. It was also his 7th career double-digit strikeout performance; he was one K away from tying his personal-best of 12 K’s set back in 2007.

It was one of “The King’s” best games during his best year. That night he was able to take on the best the league had to offer and make them look like minor leaguers.