Sweet 16

SEATTLE – For all that Felix Hernandez has done in his career, pitching meaningful games in the final two months of the season has been a rarity.

With Seattle in the thick of the wild-card chase in the American League, Hernandez got the Mariners most anticipated home series since 2007 off to an electric start on Monday night.

Hernandez allowed one run in seven strong innings, extending his major league record streak, and Robinson Cano provided a jolt of run support as Seattle romped to an 11-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Hernandez twirled another gem, making his 16th straight start of at least seven innings while allowing two earned runs or less. Hernandez needed just 96 pitches to get through seven and his only mistake was Jose Bautista’s solo home run in the fourth.

And he did it before a buzzing crowd of 41,168 as Seattle closed to within one game back in the chase for the second wild-card spot.

“That was unreal. That was pretty good,” Hernandez said. “We’re fighting. We’re going to continue to fight and do the little things.”

And for a change, Hernandez wasn’t left wondering if Seattle would score enough.

Cano ignited a seven-run sixth inning with his 10th homer of the season for a 3-1 lead.

That was just the start. Mike Zunino followed with an RBI triple and an RBI double by Endy Chavez ended the night for Toronto starter Drew Hutchison (8-10).

Seattle’s biggest inning since an eight-run outburst May 3 against Houston was just getting started. Brad Miller lined an RBI triple and Dustin Ackley brought home two runs with a single. Cano came up again, and after stepping out of the box while a lightning bolt and thunder crackled outside the stadium, just missed a second home run in the inning by inches with a RBI double off the wall.

“Everything I saw was away … so I was just trying to go the other way, but I wasn’t trying to hit a homer,” Cano said.

Bautista’s 23rd homer was the only highlight for Toronto. Colby Rasmus had the other two hits and is now 7 for 10 against Hernandez.

King Felix struck out eight, walked none and lowered his ERA to 1.95 for the season. Hernandez is 9-2 with a 1.41 ERA during the 16-game streak.

Web gems

Cano’s heady fielding cut down a potential scoring opportunity for Toronto in the second. After Rasmus doubled, Dioner Navarro hit a grounder to second. Cano threw to third and got Rasmus trying to advance. Hernandez then got a double play grounder from Danny Valencia to end the inning.

Cano later added an over-the-shoulder basket catch running down the right-field line.

2K King

Hernandez became the first pitcher since Dwight Gooden to reach 2,000 innings during or before his age-28 season.