Felix Hernandez lost his 12th game of the season yesteray afternoon in Toronto, but several hours later he might have picked up a few Cy Young Award votes.

A few eyebrows had to be raised in New York when Yankees left-hander CC Sabathia, regarded as Hernandez’s primary competitor in the Cy Young Award race, was shelled during a seven-run, sixth-inning uprising by the Rays.

Earlier in the day, King Felix pitched a complete-game two-hitter against the Blue Jays. But the first hit he surrendered was a home run in the first inning and that was the only run off the Mariners’ ace in a 1-0 loss at Rogers Centre.

According to several reports on which way the voters are leaning, wins are definitely important, especially for pitchers on teams competing for playoff spots, but it appears that overall numbers could be the determining factor.

And that would be a good thing for Felix.

According to figures compiled by STATS, Inc., which tracks just about everything that can be tracked, of the 10 big-league pitchers who have tossed the most low-run innings this season, Hernandez (92.7) and 20-game winner Sabathia (91) are the only American League pitchers that have allowed one or fewer runs in at least 90 percent of the innings they’ve pitched.

With at least one start remaining, Hernandez, a 12-game winner, has pitched in a MLB-leading 202 scoreless innings, 14 more than the Phillies’ 20-game winner Roy Halladay. Felix also has tossed 26, one-run innings among the 246 total innings pitched in. Sabathia has logged 233 innings overall, including 177 shutout frames and 34 one-run innings.

Halladay leads all Major League pitchers at 94.7 percent –188 scoreless innings and 42 one-run innings in 243 total innings. Braves right-hander Tim Hudson, a 16-game winner, is next at 93.5.

— Jim Street