Today
Opponent: Cleveland Indians
When: 7:10 p.m.
Where: Safeco Field
TV: FSN
Radio: ESPN 710 AM
Pitchers: Seattle left-hander Luke French (3-4, 4.13 earned run average) vs. right-hander Fausto Carmona (11-13, 4.19).
Felix’s Cy Young case: Throw out the record
C.C. Sabathia of the Yankees has nearly twice the victories, Clay Buchholz of the Red Sox a lower earned run average and Trevor Cahill of the A’s a better opponents batting average.
The Mariners believe their own ace, Felix Hernandez, has a body of work that measures up with — if not above — all of the American League’s top pitchers this year.
One month from today, voting members of the Baseball Writers Association of America must submit their ballots for the Cy Young Award.
The Mariners produced a detailed list of Hernandez’s accomplishments this season, and aside from his 10-10 record, it puts him in good standing with Sabathia (19-5, Buchholz (2.21 ERA) and Cahill (.210 opponents average). Among the highlights:
n Hernandez has a 2.38 ERA.
n He leads the league with 2111/3 innings. Sabathia is the next closest at 1942/3.
n He’s tied for the league lead with 200 strikeouts.
n He has 26 quality starts (at least six innings while allowing three or fewer earned runs) in his 29 starts.
n He leads the league with 11 starts when he has allowed one or fewer runs in at least seven innings. He has pitched at least eight innings in 12 starts.
n He has a 3.36 ERA in the 19 starts that didn’t result in a victory (10 losses and nine no-decisions), and in the no-decisions has a 1.92 ERA.
“The numbers for me kind of speak for themselves,” Mariners manager Daren Brown said. “He’s thrown quite a few more innings than most of the guys. The strikeouts are there, the ERA is there. The one thing people are going to look at is the wins and losses, which sometimes are out of his control. I feel like he has done his part. He is one of, if not the top pitcher in the American League.”
Brown believes the lack of a winning record shouldn’t overshadow the number of innings and quality starts Hernandez has produced.
“The wins and losses would be nice, but I don’t think that takes away from the year he is having,” Brown said. “You can look at the innings, but I also look at the quality starts. Every fifth day he’s going out there he’s giving you a chance to win. That number really sticks out.”
Of note
Injured reliever Shawn Kelley returned to his home near Chattanooga, Tenn., and started his rehab Thursday, one day after elbow surgery Wednesday in Los Angeles. He had a partially torn ligament repaired and avoided needing a full-blown “Tommy John” ligament replacement. The Mariners expect Kelley to begin throwing in about four months. “He’s pretty excited about it knowing what it could have been and what it is,” Brown said. … Indians center fielder Grady Sizemore, a 2000 graduate of Cascade High School in Everett, is in Arizona rehabbing from knee surgery. … Former Mariners pitcher Erik Hanson spent part of the afternoon Thursday in the clubhouse. Among memories he rehashed was his minor league no-hitter for Calgary in 1988, when he lost a perfect game with a walk to current Giants manager Bruce Bochy. The catcher in that game? Current Mariners bench coach Roger Hansen.
Kirby Arnold, Herald Writer
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