On Tuesday night, the fans at Safeco Field decked themselves out in royal yellow in celebration and support of their king, Felix Hernandez. Although a chance at another perfect game was ruined as Jason Kipnis led off the affair with a double, in all respects this was Felix's night. In the end, he notched another fantastic start against the Cleveland Indians for his 12th win of the season by a final score of 5-1.
Both Hernandez and his opponent, Roberto Hernandez, held the game scoreless until the bottom of the fifth inning, when Eric Thames hit his second home run in as many days to give Seattle a 1-0 lead. The Indians answered back in the top of the seventh, as Casey Kotchman hit an RBI single to tie things up.
The M's finally broke things open in the bottom of the seventh inning, scoring four runs on a John Jaso double that drove in Michael Saunders and a three-run blast by Jesus Montero that put the game away for good. It was Montero's 13th home run of the year.
Felix went 7.2 innings, allowing one run on seven hits and one walk, while striking out five. Lucas Luetge picked up the four-out save, allowing just one hit along the way.
The Mariners have now won seven straight at Safeco and have the best record in baseball since the All-Star break, if you can believe it. They will try to sweep the Indians out of town on Wednesday.
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