Felix Hernandez pitched the 23rd perfect game in Major League Baseball history, against the Tampa Bay Rays.
It was the third time in Rays history and a major league record, that the club has been on the short end of a perfect game. Hernandez needed 113 pitches to complete the gem. He struck out 12.
It was the third perfect game in baseball this season, joining Chicago’s Philip Humber against the Mariners in April and San Francisco’s Matt Cain against Houston in June. it was the sixth no-hitter pitched this season.
It was the second at Safeco Field in 2012. Sam Fuld is a deep fly ball to right-center in the first inning and Evan Longoria hit a line drive to second baseman Dustin Ackley and that is as close as Tampa Bay could get to a hit all day.
Jeremy Hellickson allowed one run in seven innings of work for Tampa Bay, but that would be all that the Mariners needed. “I don’t have any words to explain this,” Hernandez said to the crowd, speaking on the field after the final out. “I’ve been working so hard to throw one and today is for you guys.”
