Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez back in ERA race
By Phil Watson
It appeared Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners was out of the running to lead the American League in ERA after he was rocked by the Toronto Blue Jays earlier this week for eight earned runs in 4.2 innings.
That outing bumped Hernandez’s ERA from 2.07 to 2.34.
However, MLB announced a scoring change on Saturday that took four of those earned runs off his ledger when it changed a bunt that Hernandez dropped from a hit to an error.
Per Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times, via Twitter:
MLB made a scoring change on Felix's dropped bunt which was ruled a hit, but clearly an error - charged with four earned runs instead of 8
— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) September 27, 2014
The current leaderboard for the ERA title now reads:
- Chris Sale, Chicago White Sox—2.17
- Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners—2.18
- Corey Kluber, Cleveland Indians—2.44
- Jon Lester, Oakland Athletics—2.46
- Garrett Richards, Los Angeles Angels—2.61
Sale, Kluber, Lester and Richards are already done for the regular-season, while Hernandez is scheduled to start Sunday against the Angels, even if the M’s have been eliminated from contention.
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A Seattle loss or an Oakland win on Saturday will knock the Mariners out of the playoff mix.
Hernandez would need to pitch 1.2 scoreless innings to pass Sale, leading to the question of whether or not manager Lloyd McClendon would yank Hernandez after two scoreless frames on Sunday if the game is moot in terms of playoff permutations.
Batters have been pulled from games after an at-bat or two to protect a batting title, so it’s not an unreasonable question.
Hernandez is 14-6 with a 2.18 ERA and 0.932 WHIP after the scoring change, working 230.2 innings in 33 starts thus far this season while striking out a career-high 241 batters.
Hernandez, a five-time All-Star, was the Cy Young winner in 2010, when he led the AL with a 2.27 ERA in 34 starts. He won the award despite posting just a 13-12 record, marking a sea change among the voters for the award as they finally began to understand how little a pitcher’s victory total has to do with how well he actually pitches.
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