King Felix

Admittedly the Mariner's season this year has been awful. It's been more than awful, it's been abysmal. It's been absolutely demoralizing to watch as a fan. There have been times when, honestly, a bag of hammers to the face sounded more appealing.

And while the season is so far gone that even dreams of a 17 game comebacker like the Refuse to Lose season of '95 are ludicrous, there are still a few bright spots among the stretches of painstaking torture.

Felix Hernandez is one of those bright spots. Every 5th day when his name is on the lineup, it's like a little bit of that Mariner magic slips back into the atmosphere. It cracks in the air like a spark in dry heat and before you know it, you're excited to watch the game tonight. You get the feeling you are watching a small portion of history actually take place. Something amazing could happen. Pitch a no hitter? Break the strikeout record? 3 pitch inning? Perfect game? Why not? With Felix on the mound, it's anything is possible.

That's how I feel anyway and last night's game was certainly no disappointment. Despite giving up an early solo shot home run, Felix was dominating. He was a legitimate strike throwing machine. After the HR, he retired 14 straight, with six consecutive strikeouts - only one short of tying the ML record - and a total of 9 Ks on the night. In the 4th he delivered a 9 pitch, 3 strikeout inning. He joined the ranks of only 12 other men in the AL to accomplish the same feat. Ever. Ridiculous is the word I believe you are looking for. That was simply ridiculous. After 5 innings he had thrown 54 pitches and 44 of them were strikes. Let that sink in for a moment: in 5 innings, he faced 16 men and averaged just over 3 pitches per batter. Felix wasn't messing around. He went on to throw a total of 7 1/3 innings on 107 pitches (76 strikes) and sew up a win for the M's. It's almost enough to restore your hope in the M's again.

No, we didn't gain a game on the Angels. No, we didn't change the course of our season with this one game. We didn't cinch a playoff berth or complete a sweep. It was simply a win. Another chalk like in the W column. But this brief remission from what can only be described as the cancer of our season has been oh so sweet. And for that I'm thankful.