"Felix Hernandez said there's no comparison between how it feels to pitch for this year's Mariners squad versus last season's, when it seemed he had to carry the team at every turn.

"It's a lot different," Hernandez said. "It's way different than last year.

"We've played better baseball and we've been doing the little things. It's unbelievable the way we've been playing the last two weeks."

Hernandez improved to 5-4 and lowered his earned-run average to 3.01 with a 13-strikeout performance Sunday. That matched the career high for strikeouts Hernandez set last Aug. 10 against Oakland during a Cy Young Award campaign that was a rare bright spot amid 101 losses and the dismantling of the team's coaching staff.

This year's team is now largely free of the type of clubhouse turmoil that began to take over in 2010. The release of Milton Bradley eliminated what had been a looming dark cloud, while even the veterans who are struggling are doing so quietly without becoming a distraction.

The one thing Hernandez didn't do to carry the Mariners on Sunday was swing a hot bat. He went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts and two groundouts to third, stranding five base runners.

It was a bit of a blow for Hernandez, who had been living large off the grand slam he hit against Johan Santana of the Mets back in 2007 when it comes to clubhouse bragging rights. He was particularly peeved at one ugly looking strikeout that ended the fifth inning with two on."