With all that movement, he knew things would be all right.
Wow, were they. Hernandez pitched a two-hitter and struck out 11 to follow Cliff Lee's gem, and the Seattle Mariners secured their first road series win since April, beating the New York Yankees 7-0 Wednesday night.
"He told me, 'Oh my God, things are dropping like crazy,'" Hernandez said of catcher Rob Johnson.
Hernandez sent Yankees batters back to the dugout shaking their heads at-bat after at-bat. Alex Rodriguez smacked his bat to the ground after he chased a diving pitch for one of his two strikeouts. Derek Jeter shook his head as he watched Hernandez walk off the mound when he fanned to end the eighth.
King Felix took New Yorkers' minds off that other King for a few hours with a dazzling performance. LeBron James will be on everyone's mind come Thursday, but for now, Yankees manager Joe Girardi marveled at Seattle's ace.
"He's as good as we've seen all year. His slider, changeup and curveball. He really had it all working tonight," Girardi said. "He's got electric stuff."
Michael Saunders connected for two of the light-hitting Mariners' four homers to support Hernandez in his third complete game this season and 10th overall. It was his fourth career shutout and first since June 16, 2009, at San Diego.
Hernandez (6-5) and Lee are a major reason why the Mariners have won nine of 12. Lee threw his third straight complete game in a 7-4 win Tuesday night and Hernandez, in his third start in a row to go nine innings, might have been more perplexing to Yankees batters Wednesday.
"You talk about the impact that Lee has on this pitching staff, I think it pushes Felix," Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said. "A guy like Lee will make Felix better."
The Yankees had not lost consecutive games to pitchers throwing complete games since April 21-22, 2000, when Chris Carpenter and Kelvim Escobar did it for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Hernandez and Lee won back-to-back starts for only the second time this season. The last was June 18-19, but Hernandez went nine innings in his previous start, a 13-inning loss to the Cubs.
Mark Teixeira doubled leading off the fourth for New York's first hit and Colin Curtis had a lost-in-the-lights double in the fifth. Hernandez retired 11 in a row after Curtis' double before a one-out walk to Ramiro Pena in the ninth.
Milton Bradley and Saunders each homered off Javier Vazquez (6-7) and Jose Lopez extended his hitting streak to 12 games with an RBI single.
"We put pressure on them all night," Wakamatsu said.
Russell Branyan homered for the first time since returning to the Mariners in a trade late Saturday, a two-run shot in the seventh off Damaso Marte to help the Mariners secure their first series on the road since April 26-28 at Kansas City.
Saunders hit a two-run homer in the eighth off Chad Gaudin for his first multi-homer game.
"I was just excited to be able to come here, especially be able to play in Yankee Stadium," Saunders said.
Unlike Lee, who might be gone by the trading deadline in July, Hernandez figures to be the Mariners' ace for a while. He signed a $78 million, five-year deal in the offseason.
Hernandez got himself in trouble with a leadoff walk to Jeter in the first. He struck out Nick Swisher and Teixeira but Jeter advanced to third on a wild pitch and passed ball. Rodriguez walked — Hernandez's first multi-walk game in five starts — before Robinson Cano hit a liner to left that Saunders caught with a leap.
Hernandez, who has won three straight decisions, did not walk another batter until the ninth.
"With Felix, that might be the best pure stuff I've seen him have in a ballgame," Wakamatsu said. "It's awfully hard to catch, moving all over the place."
In the fifth, Curtis hit a high fly that fell in for a double when second baseman Chone Figgins lost the ball in the lights, holding his hands up in dismay as Curtis hustled around first for the extra-base hit.
Notes
The Mariners finished June 14-13, their first winning month of the season. The Yankees were 16-10. … Yankees RHP A.J. Burnett threw about 35 pitches in a bullpen session with pitching coach Dave Eiland, who returned to the team Tuesday after taking nearly a month off for an undisclosed personal reason. Burnett lost all five starts in Eiland's absence. … Wakamatsu said LHP Erik Bedard could make his first start since having surgery in August on July 6 against Kansas City.