First, let’s focus on the good stuff. As you know, Felix Hernandez has dominated pretty much everyone he has faced this season, but entering last night’s action, he was 0-3 with a 6.38 ERA in four starts against the first-place Rangers. No longer.
King Felix carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning in last night’s 2-1 victory over Texas. The no-hit bid was broken up by a screaming solo home run off the bat of Nelson Cruz to begin the top of the eighth inning. Hernandez would go on to allow just three hits over eight innings while striking out eight and walking just one. With the win, he improved to 12-11 with a 2.35 ERA on the year.
You’ll hear a lot about how this will boost his case for the American League Cy Young award — and I suppose that is true — but if you needed last night’s performance to tell you that he is deserving of the hardware, you’re probably doing it wrong. But hey, better late than never, right?
Okay, so why am I down on King Felix this morning? Well, unfortunately his brilliance on the mound doesn’t extend to his brain. Here’s what he told Kirby Arnold about Julio Borbon attempting to bunt during the sixth inning (!) of last night’s game.
“You shouldn’t do that,” Hernandez said. “Sixth inning and a guy is throwing a no-hitter, it’s disrespect.”
That’s right, Hernandez was offended by a bunt attempt during the sixth inning of a baseball game. I could find a place to defend him if we were talking about the ninth and perhaps the eighth, but geez, the sixth? That’s ridiculous. The Rangers had a ballgame to win, and if Derek Jeter has taught us anything, it’s that you try to get on base by all means necessary.
