With a quiet Hot Stove and another year almost in the books, here’s a look back at some of the more special moments from the Mariners’ 2012 season.

1. Felix Hernandez’s perfect game.
27 up, 27 down. 113 pitches. 12 strikeouts. An RBI single by Jesus Montero. A perfect summer afternoon.

Felix’s perfecto didn’t erase the Mariners’ 87 losses, but his moment in the sun will be one of the single moments remembered from their 2012 season.

2. A combined no-hitter featuring Kevin Millwood, Charlie Furbush, Stephen Pryor, Lucas Luetge, Brandon League, Tom Wilhelmsen and rookie catcher Jesus Montero.
Backed by sharp defense from Brendan Ryan and Kyle Seager, the Mariners snagged another gem that, incredibly enough, managed to be overshadowed by the first perfect game in franchise history.

It’s even stranger to think that the first Mariner to throw a solo no-hitter this year might’ve been Kevin Millwood, who was excused in the 6th inning with an untimely groin strain.

» Continue reading “Top 5 Mariners Moments In 2012″

While the Mariners shop for free agents, you can shop at Mariners.com for Cyber Monday deals. They have ornaments. They have toasters. They even have temperature-sensing garden gnomes.

• The Mariners are in talks with Mike Napoli, according to this report from Jon Heyman. Napoli is slated to meet with the Rangers later this week, although the Yankees and Red Sox are also in the mix.
• Jeff Passan believes that the Royals are on the hunt for starting pitching in return for center fielder Wil Myers (via MLB Trade Rumors). Potential trade partners include the Diamondbacks, Rays, Athletics, and yes, the Mariners.
• Although the highlight of last week’s roster moves was the overdue ousting of Chone Figgins, a handful of MiLBers received promotions to the 40-man roster: pitchers Brandon Maurer, Anthony Fernandez, and Bobby LaFromboise, infielder Vinnie Catricala, and outfielder Julio Morban.
• There may not be a single soul left in Seattle who wishes for the return of Ichiro Suzuki. For the few clinging to the hope of a re-signing, however, let me put your mind at ease: Ichiro has announced his desire to don the pinstripes again in 2013. His agent, Tony Attanasio, reports that Ichiro’s first preference is New York, although offers from other teams will be weighed if a deal is not struck (via MLB Trade Rumors).
• Needle Ball took a tour of Safeco Field yesterday, and had the privilege of seeing the field in all its half-finished glory. Currently, the scoreboard area is still vacant, and tentative lines have been drawn on the warning track for the re-formatted fences. As for the hand-operated scoreboard, no adjustments seem to have been decided upon quite yet. The Mariners offer year-round tours of Safeco Field, running Tuesday – Sunday at 12:30pm and 2:30pm. Tours last approximately 1.5 hours and tickets can be purchased online or at the team store.

Final score: Mariners 5, Twins 4

When the Mariners made their eight-win run last week, we knew that their next road trip had the potential to kill any momentum they gathered at home. Not to discredit their run, fueled by a pair of walk-offs and a perfect game, but robbing wins from the Rays, Twins, and Indians is not exactly a sign of an impending postseason run.

Fortunately, or perhaps not so fortunately, this road trip lived up to our tempered expectations. Against a first-place team, the Mariners took three losses; against the Twins, they captured three of four games.

In this morning’s series capper, Blake Beavan earned his ninth victory with 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, and 1 SO over 7 IP. It marked his lowest strikeout total since a disastrous two-inning outing against the Dodgers in mid-June, and his longest outing since the beginning of August.

The offense kept up their end of the deal, scoring on back-to-back hits in the 1st for a quick dose of run support. By the 6th inning, the Mariners trailing 2-1 while Brian Duensing retired 12 consecutive batters, they managed a four-run outburst on a 2-RBI single by Trayvon Robinson and a pair of sac flies (well, one sac fly and one case of a blinded Josh Willingham).

Right now, the Mariners are hanging onto a postseason chance of 0.5%. Heading into September, they’ll split the remaining 30 games with the Angels (9), Red Sox (3), Athletics (6), Blue Jays (3), Rangers (6), and Orioles (3). With roster expansion beginning this Saturday, let’s hope that Seattle finds enough of a spark to be more than a stepping stone for teams still in playoff contention.

Next game: vs. Angels | August 31 | 7:10pm

Felix Hernandez is in the midst of a hot streak, the likes of which have not been seen in baseball for years. We’ve known for years that Felix is good, that Felix is one of the best in the game, but his recent run has been historic – possibly even more historic than the perfect game he threw last night.

On June 28^th, Felix threw a 1-0 complete game shutout against the Boston Red Sox. He struck out 13 and only walked one. Three starts later, he did the same to the Texas Rangers, this time striking out 12 while not issuing a single walk. Four more starts later, he shut out the New York Yankees 1-0, and last night he threw a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays. Since June 28^th, 2012, Felix has thrown four complete game shutouts, all against teams with (at least preseason) playoff expectations.

In that ten game time period, Felix has an ERA of 1.62. Opponents only hold a .428 OPS off of him and he has struck out 73 while only walking 13. In ten starts, he has only allowed two home runs.

When the media talks about the best pitchers in baseball, they’ll lump Felix in with Jered Weaver, Clayton Kershaw, David Price and Justin Verlander. All four of those pitchers play for better teams and, understandably, have a better win-loss record than Felix, which makes his stats less appealing to the general public. How does Felix stack up, however, in complete game shutouts?

Let’s start with Felix’s A.L. West rival, Jered Weaver. He has thrown two shutouts this year. All year. He only threw two last year and didn’t throw one in 2010. In his 6+ year career, Weaver has thrown six shutouts.

What about Clayton Kershaw? Kershaw leads the National League with two shutouts this year. Two. He also only had two last year and has five over his 4+ year career. David Price? One shutout this year, two in his career.

Justin Verlander, reigning A.L. Cy Young award winner and MVP, surely has had a better stretch than Felix’s current run of domination. Not quite. He has one shutout in 2012. He had two last year, which is his career high.

Derek Holland and James Shields led the A.L. with four shutouts each last year, but both did it over a longer period of time than Felix and with much less domination in between. Cliff Lee actually managed six shutouts over nine games in 2011, but had three rough starts during that time period in which he gave up 6, 5 and 4 runs.

The previous time anybody had more than four shutouts in one year, even, was in 2005 when Dontrelle Willis had 5. Willis started the year with back-to-back shutouts, but the other three were spread out throughout the rest of the regular season. A.J. Burnett had five back in 2002… but one of those was six innings and he never had nearly as dominant of a run as Felix is on right now.

Not even Pedro Martinez was able to accomplish what Felix is making look easy every fifth night. In Pedro’s 23-4 season with the Red Sox in 1999, he had four shutouts all year long.

Ironically, the last pitcher to historically be on a similar run to Felix is none other than Randy Johnson back in 1998. He threw back-to-back shutouts for the Mariners on July 11 and July 16, and then after being traded to the Houston Astros, threw two more back-to-back on August 7 and August 12. Just for good measure, he threw one two starts later on August 28, took a break of one more game, and threw another on September 7, his sixth shutout in twelve games.

Felix Hernandez, right now, is the best pitcher in baseball. It seems fitting that the only player to match Hernandez’ current streak is Randy Johnson, whom the Mariners inducted into their Hall of Fame just a few short weeks ago.

If you’re in Seattle and you have the means, you would be foolish to not clear your schedule every time Felix takes the mound. The run he is on right now is one of the best in decades, and the chances are high you’d regret your decision to not go out to the park. You just might miss another perfect game.

Felix Hernandez has long since tossed his final pitch of the Mariners’ first perfect game, but the blogosphere is still humming with tributes, stories, and analyses of his career-high performance.

At long last, era of missing no-hitters comes to an end — Larry Stone has devoted 27 years of his life to baseball. With decades of near-misses and endless jokes of his power to jinx games, he finally found the perfect opportunity in yesterday’s game.

Perfection! — Mike Curto reflects on Felix’s journey to the majors, including a minor league match-up with Matt Cain in 2005.

A dash to greatness: How not to cover a perfect game — I wasn’t the only one who nearly skipped Felix’s perfect game. The Seattle Times columnist Jerry Brewer recounts his eventful dash to the park.

The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Kind of Good, Perfect Day — Speaking of my frenetic journey to Safeco, here is the full story in all its gory detail.

Three Minutes of Seattle Mariners History — Like the majority of Mariners fans yesterday, Megan Sheer was stuck at work during Felix’s historical performance.

Like You Imagined When You Were Young — Mandy may have missed Philip Humber’s perfecto back in April, but she was present (in heart, though not in person) for an even more memorable game.

Tossing a Reverie — Alex Akita tugs on our heartstrings with his reflections on high school, the nostalgic era of great Mariners baseball, and the impressive career of Felix Hernandez.

Which Recent Perfect Game Was The Hardest? — Dave Cameron tackles the six most recent perfectos in MLB history, from Mark Buehrle’s no-no in 2009 to Felix’s game yesterday afternoon. Of those six, half have been thrown against the Rays.

On Felix, His Almost-Really-Perfect Perfecto, and His Place in History —Over at The Platoon Advantage, Bill Parker credits Eric Thames for making the first out of the game and extolls Felix as one of the best in MLB. Don’t forget it, Seattle.

Felix Hernandez, John Jaso Outwit the Rays — Everything you wanted to know about Felix’s stuff yesterday: his pitch selection, location, and success rate divided in sets of three innings.

Felix’s Fastball Fittingly Fleet — In the 6th and 7th innings, Felix hurled his two fastest pitches of the season to Sean Rodriguez and Matt Joyce.

27 Perfect Things About Felix Hernandez’s Perfect Game — Among many other things, Jonah Keri explains the ranking of this game according to Game Score, the reason why Tampa Bay has the worst luck in perfect games, and the likelihood of seeing three perfectos in a single season. If you read any article on this list, make it this one.

How did you celebrate Felix’s perfect game? If you attended, watched, listened, or even just tweeted about it, share your story with us in the comments.

Final score: Felix 1, Rays 0

In the third inning, I knew something special was happening.

As any Mariners fan will tell you, every fifth game gives us a rare opportunity to witness Felix Hernandez craft an incredible game. Some days, he strikes out as many as twelve batters. Other days, the offense fails or the bullpen blows up. Every Felix Day, we hold our breath waiting for that first hit.

Today, that hit never came.

In the sixth inning, I knew not only that this would be a special game, but that I needed to see it. I’ve never been overly superstitious when it comes to baseball, so if there was even a slight chance of watching Felix complete a perfect game, I wanted to be there.

In the seventh inning, Felix blew through batters 19, 20, and 21. Joe Madden left the game. I cursed the traffic on I-90.

In the eighth inning, he struck out the side. I nearly had a nervous breakdown on the ramp to Safeco Field, hoping that the Mariners would find one more run to pocket so I could make a dash for the Home Plate Gate.

In the ninth inning, Felix Hernandez finished off the first perfect game in Mariners history. He tossed his 113th pitch for his 12th strikeout. He coasted through 27 outs on the back of an RBI single from Jesus Montero. He only allowed a 3-2 count twice. He made 26 bats swing and miss with invisible, unhittable pitches. He earned the title of “King,” not just from his Court, but from Mariners Hall of Famer Randy Johnson. And he did it for the fans.

Congratulations, King Felix. This has been a long time coming, and we couldn’t be happier, prouder of you, or more excited to see what else you have in store.

Oh, and for those wondering—I made it to the park.

Next game: vs. Twins | August 17 | 7:10pm

Final score: Mariners 3, Rays 2

Tonight did not feel like a loss.

Don’t worry, I haven’t gone crazy. I was at the game. I know how it ended. The Mariners rallied, Justin Smoak delivered, and Eric Thames was shaving-cream-pied in the face (and mouth). It was a fantastic night.

To clarify, however, the six innings when Seattle trailed Tampa Bay did not feel like the aimless banging our heads against the wall we’ve been trained to expect. Kevin Millwood hit a season high with 8 strikeouts, holding the Rays scoreless through 6 of 7 IP. Stephen Pryor’s fastballs aimed for 100, and peaked around 99 for a double and 2 strikeouts in 1.2 IP.

Even Smoak had a productive night, going 1-for-2 with a leadoff double, walk, and a sac fly that was Safeco’d on the warning track. It would be an understatement to say that Justin responded positively to the pressure he now faces, given a poor showing in Tacoma and Mike Carp’s trip to the 15-day DL.

By the time the 9th rolled around, I was mildly concerned that Chone Figgins and Miguel Olivo were up to bat. Joe Maddon was concerned as well, albeit for different reasons. I turned my cap inside out. Maddon turned his outfield inside out.

Fortunately for him, and unfortunately for me, Olivo was not destined to be the hero of tonight’s game. Perhaps another day he will send a two-run jack into a two-man outfield. Tonight’s win belonged to Thames, who popped a walk-off single over the head of a somersaulting Sean Rodriguez.

To cap the Mariners’ finest win in recent memory, I’ll leave you with Eric’s parting words of the night, moments after John Jaso delivered the victory pie mask: “My mouth was OPEN!”

Next game: vs. Rays | August 15 | 12:40pm

Final score: Rays 4, Mariners 1

No one said this game would be easy. In fact, some people said this game wouldn’t be easy. And they were right.

This game lasted two innings before Blake Beavan broke it with 5 consecutive hits and 4 runs over 43 pitches. Although he coasted through the next three innings, the Mariners struggled to close the gap, catching a break on the efforts of Trayvon Robinson and Eric Thames with a triple and RBI single.

From there, the carousel of relievers spun out Carter Capps (in his Safeco Field debut), Lucas Luetge, and Shawn Kelley. Capps tossed two 100-MPH heaters, averaged 95.8 MPH in 26 pitches, struck out one of 5 batters, and issued 3 walks in 1.0 IP.

Tomorrow, Kevin Millwood takes on Matt Moore. Actually, forget that. On Wednesday, King Felix faces Jeremy Hellickson. Now there’s something you can feel good about.

Next game: vs. Rays | August 14 | 7:10pm

Final score: Mariners 4, Angels 1

On Saturday, Mike Trout robbed Miguel Olivo of a home run with a perfectly executed leap at the center field wall.

Yesterday, Trout made the same well-timed move… and watched a solo shot land just out of reach of his glove for Jesus Montero’s first home run of the game.

That’s right, I said first. After going 7-for-13 in his previous three games, Montero piled on two homers and 3 RBIs in Sunday’s rubber match against Anaheim.

These last two games notwithstanding, it’s been a rough week and a half for the Mariners. Coming off of a 7-game winning streak, they lost five straight games in a 6-3 road trip against the Yankees, Orioles, and Angels.

Today, they return to Safeco Field for a 9-game stretch against the Rays, Twins, and Indians—one that will hopefully follow the script of last month’s 8-2 homestand.

Next game: vs. Rays | August 13 | 7:10pm

Final score: Mariners 4, Yankees 2

Every fifth day, Mariners fans can breathe a little easier. With Felix Hernandez on the mound, there is no questioning the threat posed by powerhouse rivals, be it the hot-hitting Rangers or star-studded Yankees. The only shadow hanging over a King Felix start is the matter of run support. Will it be a nail-biting, one-run affair, or will the offense show enough spark to carry Felix comfortably?

Tonight’s game landed somewhere in the middle of that spectrum. In fact, with Felix facing boyhood idol Freddy Garcia, the teams mirrored each other for the first few at-bats of the game. Derek Jeter led with a groundout, and Curtis Granderson took a fastball for a home run over the right field fence. Half an inning later, Dustin Ackley grounded out, making way for Michael Saunders to launch another fastball over the right field fence and tie the game.

As the Mariners built a lead, however, tonight’s storyline quickly shifted from an exchange of extra-base hits to an exchange of minor injuries. In the 2nd, Felix caught a piece of his own sinker when a nasty comebacker from Eric Chavez ricocheted off his right forearm. Several innings later, he plunked newly-minted Yankee Ichiro Suzuki, then Jeter, then Alex Rodriguez.

Of the three injured Yankees, none suffered worse than A-Rod, who is expected to sit out for 6-8 weeks with a fractured left pinky. It may sound laughable, but I dare you to watch this video and not feel some sympathy for the guy.

Tom Wilhelmsen notched his 11th save of the season, striking out 2 of 3 batters to close out the 9th and cement the win for Felix and the Mariners. After his unfortunate outing against Tampa Bay last week, Wilhelmsen is inching his way towards another scoreless streak with a single hit and 3 strikeouts in his last 2 appearances.

Tomorrow, the Mariners face the Yankees for the series finale. I don’t say this often, but if you haven’t made it out to the park yet this week, ditch work and catch an afternoon game at Safeco. It will be the last time Ichiro plays in Seattle this season.

Next game: vs. Yankees | July 25 | 12:40pm