BOISE, Idaho — THIS DAY IN SPORTS…July 30, 2014, 10 years ago today:
Seattle’s Felix Hernandez sets a modern major league record with his 14th consecutive start of seven or more innings pitched and two or fewer runs allowed. The big league record had been held since 1971 by Hall of Famer Tom Seaver when he was a New York Met. Hernandez had already broken the 107-year-old American League record of 12 such starts in a row by the Philadelphia A’s Chief Bender. Regardless of the league, it was a phenomenal feat by King Felix in an era when pitchers rarely make it to the seventh inning—much less 14 games in a row.
The footnote to this story—the Mariners lost the game to Cleveland 2-0 in a preview of the battle for the 2014 American League Cy Young Award. I mean, this was a monster duel at the time. The Indians started ace Cory Kluber, who came into the game at 10-6 with a 2.77 ERA. Hernandez had been spectacular to that point of the season, entering with an 11-2 record and an ERA of 1.99 It was Kluber who turned in a gem. He faced one batter over the minimum of 27 in the first complete-game shutout of his career, an 85-pitch three-hitter.
Hernandez would turn in two more seven-inning starts with two or fewer runs allowed to establish the current MLB record of 16 straight. He was favored to win the Cy Young all the way through September, but he would finish second to Kluber. On the last day of the season, Hernandez clinched the league ERA title for the second time in his career with a sparkling 2.14, the lowest mark in the AL since Boston’s Pedro Martinez in 2000. But Kluber won his last five starts of the season in September to finish 18-9, and that is probably what nudged him past Hernandez.
Hernandez had five more seasons to go in Seattle. He was honored with his own special cheering section at Safeco Field, the “King’s Court,” in 2011—and it was lively until the end. Hernandez holds the franchise record for wins with 169 and strikeouts with 2,524. He was a six-time All-Star and won the 2010 Cy Young Award. But through it all, we never got to see Hernandez pitch in the postseason. The M’s never made the playoffs during his 15-year career. We’ll always feel like we’re missing a signature King Felix moment.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
