King Felix Keeps Amazing Streak Going With Shutout of Twins

Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez smiles after finishing his complete-game shutout of the Minnesota Twins. (Jim Mone)

Tonight, the Seattle Mariners traveled to Target Field to take on the Minnesota Twins. Two very different pitchers were on the mound. The Mariners had their ace Felix Hernandez ready to go. Hernandez is of course one of the best pitchers in all of baseball and is only twelve days removed from throwing a perfect game. The Twins countered with a young, 23-year-old Aussie named Liam Hendriks. Hendriks has had his ups and downs this season as a starting pitcher. He has been sent back down to Triple-A twice this year and is still looking for his first major league win in 14 career starts.

As the game got underway, Hernandez quickly found his cruise control. Unexpectedly, Hendriks began to match him pitch for pitch. Both had shutouts going through seven innings of work. Hendriks had only needed 68 pitches to make it through his first six innings. He was locked in as never before. In the top of the eighth inning, Hendriks made one small mistake. He threw a fastball that caught a little bit too much of the plate. The problem is that the batter, Mariners right fielder Eric Thames, got enough of it to hit it out of the park for a solo home run. Meanwhile, Hernandez finished off what he started. In the bottom of the ninth, he induced a double play ball off the bat of Twins first baseman Justin Morneau to seal the Mariners 1-0 victory.

While Hernandez does have the ability to blow one away with his fastball, he also has the ability to use finesse and control to get the job done. The latter is what he did tonight. King Felix induced a staggering 16 ground ball outs compared to only five strikeouts and three flyouts. Mariners shortstop Brandon Ryan, who gets to observe from behind the working ace, explained how it works to reporters after the game. He said, "It's a different kind of great. He's not trying to throw 96 by you. He's letting the action and location dictate."

King Felix has been incredibly dominate lately, but it is not just because of this performance or the perfect game he threw. Over his last fourteen starts, Hernandez is 9-0 with a 1.40 ERA and five shutouts. No other pitcher in baseball even has an ERA of under 2.00 during this span. In his last 109 inning pitched, King Felix has only given up two home runs.  No other pitcher has given up that few even in a minimum of 60 innings pitched. Hernandez's five shutouts since mid-June is the most any Major League pitcher has thrown in an entire season since Tim Belcher in 1989.

Hendriks pitched the game of a lifetime matching one of the best in baseball. He might not have earned his first major league win, but this performance has to build his confidence as a pitcher. Hendriks has nothing to be ashamed of for how he pitched in any way. Meanwhile, King Felix continues to pitch unbelievably well. His current streak is not only dominant, but historic in many different ways. One can consider so many amazing statistical accomplishments of Hernandez. One last one to consider is that in his 27 starts this season, he has given up one earned run or less in 16 of those starts. King Felix is no doubt one of the best pitchers in baseball. He reminded us why once again tonight.

Rookie Russell Wilson Named Seahawks Starting Quarterback

Seahawks rookie quarterback Russell Wilson played so well in the preseason that he won the starting quarterback job. (Jamie Squire)

The Seattle Seahawks were excited when they were able to get former Wisconsin quarterback Russell Wilson in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft. They thought they got great value considering where the pick was made. Despite leading the Badgers to the Rose Bowl in his senior year, Wilson's draft stock fell because he was thought as too undersized to be a starting quarterback in the NFL. When the Seahawks went out and signed free agent quarterback Matt Flynn, it appeared that Wilson would be forced to battle out the backup job with incumbent Tavaris Jackson. However, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll made it clear that all three quarterbacks would get an equal shot at the starting job.

As training camp got underway, Wilson was able to pick up the Seahawks offensive playbook more quickly than expected. He clearly benefited from playing in a West Coast offensive system in college. Wilson spent his first three years at North Carolina State before transferring for his senior year to Wisconsin. In his final year, he was named first-team, all-Big Ten quarterback.

Wilson's maturity was evident to the Seahawks coaching staff right away. Carroll told reporters, "He is so prepared. He doesn't seem like a first-year player. He seems like he's been around. He gets it, he understands, and he is a tremendous leader in that way. He doesn't do anything but the right thing in all of his work and his preparation and his competitiveness has been demonstrated again."

Flynn got the starts in the first two weeks of the preseason against the Tennessee Titans and Denver Broncos. He had his share of ups and downs in both games. Wilson came in during the second half of both games. He played quite well, but he was playing against backups in that stage of the game. Wilson's real test came when he was given the start last Friday night at the Kansas City Chiefs. All he did was complete 13 of 19 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns. Wilson's quarterback rating on the night was an impressive 134.8. He also rushed for 58 yards as well. Flynn did not play against the Chiefs due to a sore elbow.

When one looks at Wilson's preseason numbers as a whole, one cannot help but be impressed by his performances. He went 35 of 52 (63.7%) for 464 yards and five touchdowns. Wilson's 119.4 quarterback rating led the league among eligible qualifiers. His only blatant mistake of the preseason was an interception in the end zone against the Titans. Other than that, Wilson had an impressive preseason from start to finish.

Therefore, it came as no surprise that Carroll named Wilson the Seahawks starting quarterback for the season opener at the Arizona Cardinals on September 9. Flynn will surely be disappointed to be relegated to yet another backup role, but he did not earn the starting job, and his injury certainly didn't help the situation in any way. The Seahawks traded Jackson to the Buffalo Bills for an undisclosed draft pick. I am excited to see how Russell Wilson does as the Seahawks starter this season. You can't help but root for a guy that almost everyone seemed to say couldn't make it as a starter in the NFL.

Goodlettsville Advances to LLWS Championship in Thriller

Goodlettsville's Lorenzo Butler celebates one of his three home runs he hit in his team's 24-16 win over Petaluma. (AP Photo) 

The Goodlettsville (Tenn.) Little League All-Stars appeared to be moments away from a berth in the Championship Game of the Little League World Series. With a 15-5 lead over Petaluma (Calif.), they were just three outs away from the huge win. However, the boys from Petaluma refused to go down. They slowly chipped away at the lead. When Danny Marzo flied out to center field for the second out, Petaluma still trailed 15-11. The next batter, Bradley Smith, came up with a clutch RBI double. The clutch hitting wasn't over for Petaluma. Kempton Brandis crushed a two-run bomb to pull Petaluma to within one run. The incredible comeback was completed when Hance Smith hit a solo shot to tie the game up 15-15. The game was suddenly headed to extra innings.

Despite blowing their ten-run lead, Goodlettsville wouldn't let themselves get discouraged. Their first six batters reached base to score five runs before they even got one out. Goodlettsville scored two more runs before Jayson Brown hit a two-run homer to cap off their offensive explosion in style. In total, they combined for nine runs on seven hits to take a 24-15 lead. In the bottom half of the inning, Logan Douglas got a run back on an error by Goodlettsville. A murmur could be heard from the crowd as they wondered if Petaluma had another improbable comeback in them. It turns out they did not as Bradley Smith struck out for the final out, sealing Goodlettsville's 24-16 win.

As if the game wasn't amazing enough, one player in particular had an extraordinary, record-setting game at the plate. Goodlettsville would not have won the game if had not been for Lorezo Butler's incredible performance. Butler hit a trio of three-run home runs to lead the way for Goodlettsville's offensive barrage. His nine RBIs set a new Little League World Series record, and his three home runs tied a single-game record of its own.

The game was superb in every way. Well unless you were one of the pitchers. Regardless, the players from both teams should be proud. They showed great heart and desire to win. The teams' combined 40 runs set another new LLWS record. Butler's performance on this kind of stage was phenomenal. In fact, his day at the plate was so big that he was even trending on Twitter during one point in the game. Goodlettsville now advances to play Tokyo, Japan in the Championship Game. If that game is anything like this one, we are going to be in for a treat to be sure.