SEATTLE (AP) As soon as strike three was called, everyone in Safeco Field knew it was a special moment.
Felix Hernandez became the fourth-youngest player to reach 2,000 strikeouts in a 4-3 win against the
Oakland Athletics on Sunday with a fifth-inning strikeout of leadoff hitter
Sam Fuld.
Hernandez started Sunday's game against the Oakland Athletics with 1,995 strikeouts. He fell behind Fuld 3-1 before striking him out looking at a fastball for No. 2,000. As the accomplishment was noted on the stadium video board, the fans rose for a standing ovation and Hernandez stepped off the mound to acknowledge the moment.
''The accolades just keep coming and coming with this guy,'' Seattle manager Lloyd McClendon said. ''He's a delight to watch every fifth day. I think we're all blessed. I'm not sure everybody realizes what's he's actually doing, but this guy's real, real good.''
Only Bert Blyleven, Sam McDowell and Walter Johnson, who were all 28 when they struck out 2,000, reached the milestone at a younger age than Hernandez at 29 years, 32 days old.
Although Hernandez said he wasn't concentrating on the mark coming into the game, once he got
Josh Reddick swinging to end the third inning it was in his mind.
''I knew it. I knew I had four, and I needed five,'' Hernandez said. ''It was a pretty special moment.''
Hernandez (6-0) added one more strikeout on his final batter, getting
Eric Sogard swinging to end the seventh inning. Nearly everything went right for him today except for two solo home runs by Marcus Semien, the first multi-homer game of his career.
''It's Felix Hernandez - he's going to do that to a lot of teams this year,'' said Oakland catcher
Stephen Vogt, who hit a solo homer off Seattle closer
Fernando Rodney in the ninth inning. ''He's a competitor too. Both times right after he gave up home runs to Semien, you could see his demeanor change, bear down and get nastier. That's what good competitive pitchers do. When they get mad they get better.''