» Seattle’s Hernandez Rains on Dice-K’s Boston Debut

Seattle’s Hernandez Rains on Dice-K’s Boston Debut

Boston’s rookie Japanese phenom Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched well in his home debut over 7 innings, but not well enough as he was outshone by Seattle’s starter Felix Hernandez who pitched MLB’s first complete game of the 2007 season, a 3-0, 1 hit shutout of David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez and the Red Sox.

Hernandez walked 2 and struck 6, while giving up only 1 hit in an awesome performance in Boston.

Yahoo sports’ AP post reports;

The burly Hernandez (2-0), three days past his 21st birthday, pitched a one-hitter for his third complete game in 45 starts.

“With all the hype going into this game with Matsuzaka and Ichiro [Suzuki],” Seattle manager Mike Hargrove said. “I kept in the back of my mind that people better not overlook our guy.”

Hernandez lost his no-hit bid when he couldn’t get his 86th pitch of the game past Drew, who has hit safely in all eight games since signing a $70 million, five-year contract as a free agent.

Hernandez dominated the Red Sox just one day after they had battered the Mariners 14-3 with 14 hits in Seattle’s first game after snow in Cleveland caused four days of postponements.

“He had everything going on tonight. He was just impossible,” Boston’s David Ortiz said.

As a rookie, Hernandez had a 2.67 ERA and 4-4 record in 12 starts. He was 12-14 with a 4.52 ERA, last year, lost weight during the offseason and on opening day struck out 12 and allowed just three hits in eight innings of a 4-0 win over Oakland.

“He lives up to his hype,” said Red Sox reliever Joel Pineiro, who played for Seattle last season.

And he doesn’t get rattled by strong offenses.

“The Red Sox are not chopped liver,” Hargrove said.