SEATTLE — On a day for the Seattle Mariners to reach individual goals before they called it a season, Felix Hernandez was cruising toward a complete game that would be the perfect bookend to his year.
Then manager John McLaren sprang from the dugout with two outs in the ninth inning and asked for the baseball. Well, before he took the ball, McLaren had some explaining to do.
Hernandez already had a 4-2 victory over the Texas Rangers locked down, but he wanted that complete game. But McLaren also wanted closer J.J. Putz to get his 40th save.
So, while Hernandez kicked at the dirt and wore a look of disbelief at the sight of his skipper, McLaren began making his point.
“The big man needs 40,” McLaren told Hernandez and the infielders who gathered ‘round.
Hernandez understood and shortstop Willie Bloomquist turned toward the bullpen and waved for Putz before McLaren could raise his right arm.
“We had a couple of infielders who encouraged us to bring J.J. in,” McLaren said. “Felix understood, and it was a great day for everybody.”
The Mariners won their fifth straight game to finish the season with a flourish that sends them into the offseason encouraged and confident. Their 88 victories are 10 more than last year.
Hernandez recorded his career-best 14th victory and lowered his earned run average to 3.92. He held the Rangers to four hits over 82/3 innings and became the first Mariners pitcher to win the first and last games of the season since Randy Johnson did it in 1995.
And Jamie Burke, the 36-year-old backup catcher who’d never made an opening-day major league roster, hit his first major league home run in his 246th big-league at-bat.
As hard as he tried, Burke couldn’t suppress a smile as he rounded the bases.
“A lot of guys have given me a hard time about it,” he said. “I don’t try to go out there and do it. I try to get on base and make things happen, try to have good at-bats. The ball just ran into my bat. But it’s special, especially after battling so hard to win this job.”
The only players who came up short of their late-season goals were right fielder Jose Guillen and third baseman Adrian Beltre. Each failed to drive in a run and finished with 99 RBI this season.
Hernandez ended his season the way he started it, handling the Rangers the way he did the A’s on opening day and the Red Sox in his second start, a complete-game one-hitter at Boston.
In between was a stint on the disabled list because of a strained right elbow, then a period of inconsistency. After an 8-0 loss at Toronto on July 22, his record was 6-6, far from what the Mariners needed from the pitcher they considered their ace.
Hernandez still battled bouts of inconsistency but he finished well, winning eight of his last nine decisions for a 14-7 record.
Sunday, after a first-inning hiccup when he hit Ian Kinsler and gave up an RBI double to David Murphy, Hernandez was the pitcher the Mariners remembered from early April.
He retired 11 straight before Jarrod Saltalamacchia singled leading off the fifth, and the Rangers’ only other run — unearned — scored in that inning after Jose Lopez’s error.
Hernandez cruised into the ninth, got two quick outs, then stepped back on the mound to finish.
“He wanted a complete game and we want him to start throwing complete games,” McLaren said. “But J.J. has been there all year and he deserved to get his 40th save. That was probably the toughest decision I had all year.”
Once it was explained to him, Hernandez agreed.
“That’s fine. We’re teammates,” he said. “But J.J. owes me one.”
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