SEATTLE -- His arms outstretched to the sky, about to be swallowed by anxious teammates who ignored him for most of nine innings, Felix Hernandez had finally done it. Ever since his major league debut as a baby-faced 19-year-old with wild curly hair and a hat that never sat straight, he had chased perfection. Now King Felix had his crowning achievement. No hits, no runs, nobody allowed on base. "It was always in my mind, every game. I need to throw a perfect game. For every pitcher, I think its in their mind," Hernandez said. "Today it happened and its something special. I dont have any words to explain this. This is pretty amazing. It doesnt happen every day." Hernandez pitched the Seattle Mariners first perfect game and the 23rd in baseball history, overpowering the Tampa Bay Rays in a brilliant 1-0 victory Wednesday. The 2010 AL Cy Young Award winner has never hid his desire for pitching perfection. For a franchise on its way to an 11th straight season without a playoff appearance, Hernandez is the one constant keeping fans interested in Mariners baseball. Hes revered in the Pacific Northwest, not only for his performance on the mound, but for his willingness to stay. When he could have waited and sought a bigger payday elsewhere, Hernandez signed an extension in 2010 that will keep him in Seattle through the 2014 season. So when the "Kings Court" of yellow-shirted fans in the left-field corner began chanting "Lets Go Felix!" to start the eighth inning, it spread through the entire stadium. The crescendo of screams and yells finally reached its pinnacle at 3:02 p.m. PDT when Hernandez threw a called third strike past Sean Rodriguez to ignite the celebration. Riding down in a crowded elevator after the game, Seattle general manager Jack Zduriencik jokingly held his cellphone to his ear and said "no, were not trading Felix." "It almost seems like a matter of time before this happens," Seattle catcher John Jaso said. "A little dribbler here or something its ruined, but his competitive attitude and competitive mind he brings out to the mound each time he pitches, you know you have a guy out there who is going to give you a chance to win." It was the third perfect game in baseball this season -- a first -- joining gems by Chicagos Philip Humber against the Mariners in April and San Franciscos Matt Cain versus Houston in June. More than half of all perfectos -- 12 -- have come in the last 25 seasons. This also was the sixth no-hitter in the majors this season, three of them at Safeco Field. Humber threw his gem in Seattle, then six Mariners pitchers combined to hold the Los Angeles Dodgers hitless at the park on June 8. There have been seven no-hitters in a season twice since 1900. It happened in 1990 and again in 1991, with Nolan Ryan throwing two in those days. For the Rays, it was an all-too-familiar feeling. This was the third time in four seasons they had a perfect game pitched against them, following efforts by Dallas Braden in 2010 and Mark Buehrle in 2009. "The one thing Ive learned is that no-hitters and perfect games dont mean anything about tomorrow, anyway," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. Hernandezs dominance got stronger as the game progressed. He cruised for five innings, then pitched through tough at-bats, delay tactics and the mounting pressure of perfection to close out the gem. Hernandez struck out 12, including but eight in the final four innings. He struck out the side in the sixth, did it again in the eighth and hit as high as 95 mph in the ninth. Two starts earlier against the New York Yankees, Hernandez tossed a two-hit shutout, leading Seattle manager Eric Wedge to call it the finest outing hes seen from Hernandez. Suffice to say, Wednesday was better. "It was special. He had special stuff," Wedge said. "But Felix is so consistently good that when he does take it up to another level which weve seen him do through the course of the year, you never know how its going to turn out." Desmond Jennings pinch hit for Jose Lobaton to open the ninth. Hernandez got ahead 1-2 before Jennings fouled off two straight and Hernandez fanned him on a 92 mph fastball down in the zone. Jeff Keppinger batted for Elliot Johnson and grounded out to shortstop on a 1-2 pitch. With one out to go, Rodriguez got ahead 2-0 in the count. After circling the mound, Hernandez took the sign from Jaso and came back with two straight breaking balls for strikes. He ended perfection with a called third strike on his 113th pitch. "I went 2-0 and I just took a little walk, took a break, and he called a slider. I had been following him the whole game, so I threw a slider and he swing," Hernandez said. "It was a good thing I followed this guy." The 26-year-old Venezuelan right-hander had the Rays swinging over his sharp curve all afternoon, with Evan Longoria, Ben Zobrist and Carlos Pena each striking out in the eighth chasing breaking balls. Tampa Bay seemed to try another technique to disrupt Hernandez, and that also failed. With two outs in the seventh, Maddon came out to argue after plate umpire Rob Drake called strike one on a borderline pitch to Matt Joyce. Maddon stuck around for a minute or so to argue and when he left, Hernandez was still right in rhythm. "I was yelling at Joe to get ... out of there," Wedge said. It was the second no-hitter this season for the Mariners -- doubling the franchises total entering the year -- and third total at Safeco Field after the park went more than a dozen years without one. After Humbers perfect game, a six-pack of Seattle pitchers tossed a combined no-hitter against the Dodgers in June. The total of six no-hitters is two shy of the record set in 1884, one short of the total in each of the 1990 and 1991 seasons. "Hard to believe. Its hard to believe," baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said. "Struck out five of the last six hitters. Thats pretty good." Seattles only run came thanks to Brendan Ryans aggressive baserunning. He led off the third with his first hit in 10 at-bats against Jeremy Hellickson (7-8), a sharp single to left. He was still at first with two outs when he got a great jump on a curveball that bounced in the dirt and escaped Lobaton. Ryan never hesitated at second and made it all the way to third. He then jogged home when Jesus Montero followed with a single to left. Unlike Cains perfect game in June, Hernandez didnt need the help of a career-high in strikeouts or spectacular catches. The closest to defensive highlights in this one were Eric Thames running down Sam Fulds drive to right-centre leading off the game and Ryan throwing out B.J. Upton on a grounder into the shortstop hole in the seventh. After Maddons ejection, Joyce worked the count to 3-2, Hernandezs third and final three-ball count, and hit an inning-ending groundout. A long wait on the bench in the bottom of the seventh didnt hamper Hernandez, who struck out Longoria on a biting breaking ball to start the eighth. With chants of "Lets Go Felix!" growing, Hernandez struck out Zobrist. The chant grew in volume as Hernandez got ahead of Pena and closed the inning with another punchout. It was the fifth time this season Hernandez has struck out 10 or more. Most of his outs were on the infield with only five fly ball outs. "You could throw any lineup out there today," Jaso said, "and its close to the same result." NOTES: The Mariners now have four no-hitters in club history, three of them individual. Seattles previous individual no-hitter came when Chris Bosio shut down Boston on April 22, 1993. The other solo effort was thrown by Randy Johnson against Detroit on June 2, 1990. ... Tampa Bay was no-hit for the fifth time in franchise history. ... Maddons ejection was his second of the season. ... Maddon said the team plans to keep INF Luke Scott on his rehab assignment in the minors through the weekend. Scott has been on the DL with an oblique strain. wholesale jerseys . Jose Reyes hand? No problem. Chris Young and the New York Mets, meanwhile, are stuck in a painful rut at home. wholesale nfl jerseys . Jordan Lyles won for the first time in two months and the Houston Astros snapped a seven-game losing streak Friday night with a 3-1 victory over the sluggish Mets, giving Tony DeFrancesco his first win as a major league manager. http://www.cheapjerseys2014.us.com/[/ur... . - Once he finally made his way to the victorious visiting clubhouse, Justin Verlanders teammates greeted him with chants of "Cy Young!" and sprayed him in the face with bubbly. [url=http://www.cheapjerseys2014.us.com/]Cheap Jerseys free shipping . Voracek came to Philadelphia last season in the deal that sent forward Jeff Carter to Columbus and had a big debut season in the Eastern Conference. wholesale jerseys China . Sinclairs first and second goals of London 2012 came in the second half as she headed home a cross in the 58th minute, and followed that up by converting a clear break on net in the 86th to put the game out of reach.ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Trey Burke has a good idea of what to expect when Michigan takes the court at Ohio State on Sunday. "I expect pretty much the same atmosphere as last year," Burke said. "It was very intense. We all were getting booed. It should be fun." The difference this time is that the Wolverines will be undefeated when they face their rivals to the south. Second-ranked Michigan assured that with a 62-47 win over Nebraska on Wednesday night. The Wolverines (16-0, 3-0 Big Ten) equaled their best start to a season. Only the 1985-86 team had started 16-0, and that was also the last Michigan team to be unbeaten heading into a game at Ohio State, according to STATS. On Jan. 4, 1986, the Wolverines improved to 14-0 with a 78-68 win in Columbus. Michigan won Wednesday despite its shakiest shooting performance in a while. Burke had 18 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. added 15 points and 11 rebounds. Ray Gallegos scored 19 for Nebraska (9-7, 0-3), which held the Wolverines to 39 per cent shooting. Michigan, which beat its first two conference opponents by 28 points apiece, went 3 of 17 from 3-point range. "Its a great win. We had to grind one out," coach John Beilein said. "That adversity is good stuff in the long run." With the game still in doubt, freshman Glenn Robinson III intercepted a pass near midcourt and went in alone for a soaring dunk that put Michigan ahead 47-39. After a 3-pointer by Gallegos cut the lead to five, Robinson slammed down a missed shot by teammate Caris LeVert to make it a seven-point game. Michigans Mitch McGary went diving on the floor for a loose ball, causing a jump ball that gave possession to the Wolverines. The 6-foot-10 freshman then began waving his arms, trying to pump up the crowd. McGarys layup at the other end made it 51-42, and Hardaways two free throws put Michigan up by double digits for the first time. "As long as we can run our offence and execute, theeres people on this team that can score no matter what," McGary said.dddddddddddd "Tonight, we werent hitting shots like we wanted to, so we just needed to make up for it on the defensive end, and I think we did that." The 1985-86 Wolverines, featuring Roy Tarpley and Glen Rice, had the programs most recent regular-season conference title until last seasons team finished tied atop the Big Ten. Michigan breezed through its first two league games this season but found the going a bit tough against the plodding Cornhuskers. Nebraska, coming off a 47-41 loss to Wisconsin, was content to keep the pace slow, and the Wolverines couldnt pull away. Michigan didnt help itself by going 17 of 26 from the free throw line. "Its tough because this is the same thing we did against Wisconsin," Gallegos said. "We gave ourselves a chance, but we didnt make the hustle plays that we needed to make. They got a lot of offensive rebounds and a lot of second-chance points, and that hurt us." The Wolverines had 16 offensive rebounds and turned the ball over only five times. Toward the end, the home crowd began chanting "Beat Ohio" -- Michigans game at No. 15 Ohio State will be a homecoming of sorts for Burke, who is from Columbus. "Ohio State-Michigan, just the rivalry, the two names when they play against each other, its always going to be an intense game," he said. Nebraska has held 15 of its 16 opponents under 50 per cent shooting, but the Cornhuskers couldnt score enough down the stretch. Gallegos had their final 13 points. A layup by Brandon Ubel with 12:51 remaining was the last scoring contribution by any other Nebraska player. After that, Michigan freshman Nik Stauskas tossed up a wild shot on a drive to the basket. It missed, but he was able to keep the ball inbounds for his teammates before setting up over in the right corner. Stauskas eventually made a 3 to put Michigan up 43-34. ' ' '