This is no longer about hype, the breathless predictions of ever-spiraling greatness and the instant comparisons to every flinger who ever strode a mound in his teens.

Now it's about hope, about having a reason to care about the Mariners in the midst of another miserable baseball summer.

Felix Hernandez has done that, given Seattle fans a big, blaring beacon of hope, and that's a miracle unto itself.

Last night, Hernandez merely added to the burgeoning legend with his most dominating performance yet. It was eight innings and 99 pitches of utter brilliance as the Mariners defeated the spectacularly inept Kansas City Royals, 11-3.

Hernandez gave up three hits (all singles, one to the infield), one run, fanned 11, walked one and did absolutely nothing to mute the din of anticipatory fervor he has conjured.

They are rapidly becoming an event, these once-every-five-days unveilings of the 19-year-old (pick one) phenom-marvel-sensation-savior.

Every one of those 96s and 97s on the scoreboard speed gun is a neon reminder that the moribund Mariners just might have a future — or, at least, the most important building block to reconstruct the fallen realm.

Mariners update


Tonight: Kansas City at Seattle, 7:05 p.m., FSN/KOMO (1000 AM)

Starting pitchers: M's Joel Pineiro (4-7, 5.69) vs. Zack Greinke (3-14, 6.09)

Ordinarily, a Monday night game between the Mariners and Royals — the former in a depressing state of disrepair, the latter coming in on a 15-game losing streak and barely deserving of the title "major league" — wouldn't cause a ripple of interest.

But last night, Safeco Field was charged with electricity, and it was mostly Felix:

Felix firing unhittable fastballs on the black and that knee-buckling "curveball from hell," to use the quaint phraseology of Twins manager Ron Gardenhire.

Felix oozing poise and polish, displaying the nuances that are starting to become familiar — the slightly cocked hat, the slow walk to the dugout, the baleful stares from vanquished hitters.

Afterward, Mariners manager Mike Hargrove started raving about Hernandez's pitches, the "nasty" 3-2 changeup that struck out Mark Teahen, the "unfair" 97 mph sinker, then caught himself.

"I'm really trying not to go off the deep end bragging about this guy," he said. "I'd love to tell you the flowery things I'm feeling, but common sense tells me I shouldn't go down that road."

As always, the gushing comes with provisos and disclaimers. Hernandez is still new to the league's hitters, who have yet to compile a complete book on his stuff. And his three starts have come against the Tigers, Twins and Royals, the league's lightest lumber. That tepid trio came into last night's game ranked, respectively, 11th, 12th and 14th in the American League in runs scored. (The Mariners stand 13th; maybe he'll get a crack at them in an intrasquad game).

And yet, what he has done so far transcends the competition. It would not have been possible for him to come up from the minors with expectations any higher, nor to have done any more to raise them further.

"Nothing is hard in this world," Hernandez demurred yesterday in the midst of his translated postgame platitudes. "You just have to work hard and get the most out of it that you can."

In the process, he has not just re-energized the Mariners' faithful, he has captivated baseball-mad Venezuela. According to Humberto Oropeza, president of the Lara Cardinals baseball team, Felix's big-league rise has been well-chronicled in Venezuelan media. Most of his outings are likely be telecast, said Oropeza, who attended last night's game at Safeco.

"For the last three or four years, everyone knows about Felix," he said.

Oropeza, a close friend and trusted advisor of Hernandez, readily admits he is not unbiased in his assessment of Felix's ability to deal with his ascendance to fame. But he doesn't see him falling victim, as other highly hyped pitchers have, to the spoils of early success.

"Most important is the way he handles himself on and off the field," Oropeza said. "I really feel Felix is a very smart kid. If he continues that way, he can be in this game for many, many years."

Some have speculated that Hernandez's lack of fluency in English (though his skills are improving rapidly) might shield him from knowledge of the burgeoning expectations. But Oropeza, who spoke with Hernandez in the clubhouse before his start yesterday, said that he's well aware of the hype.

"That's the most difficult part of the situation, especially for a kid like him," Oropeza said. "He understands that the attention can distract him from what he has to do, and he understands that this is just one step. He needs to keep working."

Rest assured that the hype, fueled by brilliance like last night, will keep pouring forth.

But — and this is Felix's greatest achievement — so will the hope.

Larry Stone: 206-464-3146 or lstone@seattletimes.com