Hernandez ties record in latest gem

While he's been dominating the Northwest League, Carlos Hernandez still loses his confidence from time to time. When he rediscovers it, the results are spectacular.

The D-backs prospect tied the single-season team strikeout record and extended his scoreless streak to 26 innings on Tuesday night as Class A Short Season Hillsboro thumped visiting Salem-Keizer, 10-0, at Ron Tonkin Field.

Hernandez (3-1) allowed four hits and fanned seven over seven innings to win his third straight start. He ran into trouble early, however, putting two runners on in each of the first two frames, but emerged unscathed.

"The first two innings, I wasn't feeling pretty good, but then I got my confidence back and just tried to do my job," the 21-year-old right-hander said. "Fastball command wasn't there and I got helped by my defense, so it gave me my confidence back. So I'm just glad it came back. … It feels amazing [to get out of jams]. You can't describe the feeling."

When he fanned Fernando Pujadas for the second out in the seventh, it was his 60th strikeout of the season, tying Ben Eckels' 2013 team record.

Hernandez was perfect over his final five innings en route to his fourth straight scoreless outing. During that 26-inning stretch, he's yielded 12 hits and four walks.

"My fastball command came back, my changeup was working pretty good and just tried to finish the job," the native of the Dominican Republic said. "I'm kind of putting it together now. I have a great pitching coach [Doug Drabek] who helps me a lot, so it feels amazing."

After three seasons in Rookie ball, Hernandez has found his niche in the Northwest League. The 5-foot-11 hurler leads the circuit with a 1.26 ERA, a 0.82 WHIP and those 60 strikeouts. Not surprisingly he was named to the All-Star team that will face the Pioneer League next week.

"It feels pretty good, it's special, it's nice. I'm going to try to keep going with it and see how far I can go," he said of the record. "[I credit my] fastball command and changeup just being there all the way. A great job by the catchers, too, [Jose] Queliz and [Alexis] Olmeda. They do an incredible job for us. I'm just trying to do my job."

Hernandez is a part of the league's most dominant rotation as he's joined by southpaws Jared Miller and Cody Reed -- the D-backs No. 11 prospect. Together, the trio ranks among the top four in ERA, while Miller boasts a league-leading seven wins.

"We talk a lot about what is working for each other," Hernandez said. "Each inning, Miller tells me something like, 'Hey, remember what we talked about.' And with Reed, too, it's just an amazing atmosphere that we have right now and we just try to keep it going."

Making his Northwest League debut, Volcanoes right-hander Jordan Johnson (0-1) allowed two runs on five hits while striking out six over 4 2/3 innings.