SEATTLE — His teammates, his manager — they raved about him.

“Felix Hernandez stepped up today,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “Absolutely the best we’ve seen him all year.”

“It was nice to see him dominate,” Mariners DH Nelson Cruz said. “He was really on top of his game.”

Even Hernandez was happy with how he pitched in the Mariners’ 4-0 win Sunday against the A’s, and for a good reason.

“From fastball to change up, everything was perfect,” he said.

Every Hernandez start these days feels like a tug-of-war between what Hernandez has been for so long, and what he is today, in his 13th season. On Sunday, Hernandez offered his most hopeful start of the year: six innings, a season-low two hits and a season-high eight strikeouts.

“Hands down,” Servais said, “that was the best effort and the best stuff he’s had all year.”

And that had the Mariners (43-47) optimistic about what that means for the second half of the season because there’s little doubt Hernandez will play a big role in how the Mariners finish.

“I think we need Felix more than anything else,” Cruz said.

“I trust myself,” Hernandez said. “I’m going to help this team.”

In his previous three starts — all since he returned from injury — Hernandez had mixed results. Twice he’d gone six innings and allowed three runs, solid if unspectacular outings. Last time out, he gave up six runs (five earned) in six innings. He’d also allowed five home runs in those three starts.

He had few issues against Oakland. Hernandez worked ahead of hitters often, then put them away, especially as the game went on.

Seven of his eight strikeouts were in his final four innings.

“That’s what he can do,” Servais said. “He still has plenty of stuff to be a very effective starting pitcher in this league. But having that focus and understanding where he’s at, that’s going to be really important for us going forward.”

It wasn’t just the strikeouts, although he did pass Juan Marichal for 49th all-time for the most strikeouts in major league history. The Mariners entered the day having lost nine of their last 12 games, including a stretch of eight straight losses at home.

Hernandez understood the stakes heading into the All-Star break.

“He was locked in,” Servais said. “He had all of his pitches working. He just had a different look about him today. … He knew we needed this ball game, and he needed to have a good effort for us. He certainly did.”

Servais explained what he meant by Hernandez’s “different look.”

“He understands things haven’t been going well for him because the bar is so high and what he’s done throughout his career here,” he said. “He still has the ability, and he’s a really good competitor, and we saw that today.”

Backup catcher Carlos Ruiz had three hits and an RBI, and Nelson Cruz hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning. It was Cruz’s third home run in his last five games, which came after he went 24 games without a home run.

“Nelson Cruz does it again,” Servais said. “When we need a big homer or something like that, he’s usually the guy who comes through.”

On Sunday, the same was said of Hernandez.

“He’s our ace,” Cruz said. “He’s our head. If the head falls, everybody falls. It’s nice to see him perform like he did today.”