And He's Off...
Ichiro leads off with a triple, then freezes and doesn't score on Willie Bloomquist's infield single. These Mariners invent ways not to score. Raul Ibanez ruined the shutout, hitting an RBI double.
Seattle is rolling. ...

Now Pitching For Seattle ...
The Mariners likely will call up Ryan Rowland-Smith in the next few days and give him at least one start in the spot currently filled by R.A. Dickey. They're also close to sending Brandon Morrow to Tacoma, giving him three starts there to stretch him out to about 75 pitches, then bring him back. If that happens, Morrow will take the spot now occupied by Miguel Batista, who will then join Dickey in the bullpen.
And Erik Bedard? It's beginning to look as if the the left-hander has pitched his last game of the season. ...

Knuckle ball 101 ...
Throw a knuckler into the wind and there's no telling exactly what it might do. Wrong.
R.A. Dickey says he can throw his eight warmup pitches on the mound before the start on an inning and get a pretty good feel for what the breeze will do to his pitches. From there, it's a matter of subtle adjustments.
Dickey would much rather pitch in a breeze than, say, in a dome as he did last week in Toronto. Indoors, the knuckler doesn't move as much.
Now you know. ...

Keep Those Zeroes Coming ...
When a starting pitcher holds the opposition scoreless for a few innings, it's amazing the impact that can have on his offense.
Rather than playing catch up, a team can grab a lead and add on as the game goes along. That was always the theory the Mariners had for '08.
The problem was, their rotation kept falling behind early and often.
To the bottom of the 4th:
Seattle 6, Texas 0 ...

Where's Yuni?
SS Yuniesky Betancourt isn't playing tonight but was in the original lineup.
What happened? He was scratched late because of a tender elbow, and may miss tonight's game, too. ...

Talk, talk, talk ...
Seattle didn't do much at the trading deadline, but 20 of the 30 major league teams stood pat.
If you have big pieces to be moved - a Jason Bay, a Rich Harden, even a Ken Griffey Jr. - a bad team can restock its system with young players.
If you have smaller pieces, the offers rarely make any sense unless you simply want them gone.
GM Lee Pelekoudas had few players any contending team found worth even a second-tier prospect. So he walked away from deals that promised more mediocrity. ...

Mr. Lopez Does It Again ...
With his eighth-inning single, Jose Lopez pushed that consecutive game hitting streak to 18 - and that's one week short of Ichio's club-record 25-game streak.
Now if the bullpen can hang on.
Seattle 8, Texas 2. To the ninth ...

... with the Mariners?

Well nothing. They are minus one reliever and a mid-grade prospect richer.

But with the playoff races in the American League East and the National League West? Plenty.

That's because Manny Ramirez has been traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of a three-team trade, while former Gonzaga standout and Kirkland resident Jason Bay is headed to the Red Sox. Here's some of the details of the trade.

But who cares about teams fighting for playoff spots, lets focus on a team that hasn't been in the playoff equation since April - the Mariners. I guess I'm not completely surprised. And maybe it's not over. Any deal involving the exchange of money or teams picking up another players contracts, must have it approved the commissioner's office.

And even if a move hasn't been done now, Jarrod Washburn could be moved in a waiver wire deal. That's not totally implausible, particularly if the Yankees get a few crappy starts from Sidney Ponson or Darrell Rasner over the next week.

On some level, I understand that interim general manager Lee Pelekoudas didn't want to just give up Washburn or Raul Ibanez or Adrian Beltre just for the sake of giving them up. Having a certain level of demand is expected. But according to most reports, the bulk of the executives around the baseball felt that the Mariners asking prices for their players were "exorbitant."

But is Washburn any part of their future plans? I wouldn't think so. Even with his newfound change-up, Washburn isn't likely to be re-signed by Seattle. The Mariners would have been better off dumping the salary and giving Ryan Rowland-Smith or Ryan Feierabend their shot at the rotation. Unless a waiver wire deal goes down the Mariners are on the book for another $14 million for Washburn counting the end of this season and all of next season. That's still a lot for a guy that's 5-9 with a 4.50 ERA, even with his latest run of good starts. Even if you make a trade in the offseason for Washburn, you're likely not going to get anybody to pick up all of his salary.

As for Ibanez, I don't understand why you don't make a trade for him. I guess we don't know what the Cubs, Mets or Blue Jays were offering. But think about this ... there is no guarantee that Raul is going to re-sign with the Mariners next season. He's an unrestricted free agent. And as a guy who loves the Florida area, if the Marlins or Rays offered him a contract for slightly less money that the Mariners, he could definitely wind up staying in the area. The positive of that situation is that if he does sign with somebody else, the Mariners are guaranteed two draft picks because Raul is a type A free agent. But that leads to the assumption that the Mariners draft well with those picks --- anybody remember Michael Garciaparra?

It seems that the trade deadline is often overhyped for how much really happens. Honestly if Manny, wasn't, well, Manny the last few weeks, that trade probably doesn't even happen. But since he's been a pouting, unhustling, clubhouse disrupting baby, the Red Sox kind of had to make the deal.

More and more GMs are a little wary of making that risky deadline trade that comes back to bite them in the end. Call it the Woody Woodward syndrome. Nobody wants to make the Jason Varitek and Derek Lowe for Heathcliff Slocumb trade.

For Pelekoudas, the safest thing to do was trade Rhodes, and do nothing else. Ask high, and if you don't get what you want, you can't be faulted as much. Pelekoudas has been around long enough to know that playing it safe could be the safest way to maintain employment and push for the GM job full-time. He also knows that being an interim GM with a team in the dumper, that opposing GMs might try and lowball him or bully him into a trade he didn't really want to make. So he played it safe. I guess you can't fault him for the idea of job-preservation. But really, there was a chance to make some sweeping changes and the Mariners stood pat ... and we all know it isn't the first time.

He's scheduled to meet with the media later today in Texas and I guess we'll know more then.

The trade that was most likely to happen did, and Arthur Lee Rhodes is now a Florida Marlin - moved in exchange for a young, minor-league starting pitcher.

It was a move that served the future, and whether 22-year-old Gaby Hernandez works out is something no one can know today.

But Rhodes, 38, will be missed - as much in the clubhouse as on the mound, where he was having a rock-solid season.

Arthur had character, the kind that lets a man deal with a son who has cancer without using it as an excuse for poor outings. He was the unquestioned leader of a Mariners bullpen that has been effective and close-knit.

He had the strength to challenge others on the team who didn't work hard, whether they were pitchers, first basemen or shortstops.

Good games or bad, Rhodes would be at his locker afterward, and insisted his fellow relievers do the same. In a clubhouse where regulars rarely did, it was a breath of fresh air to see someone who believed in taking responsibility.

Rhodes was the kind of man you'd have liked as a neighbor, the kind of player that will be missed now that he's moved on.

That doesn't mean Seattle shouldn't have traded him, begun the process of rebuilding.

It just means he left his imprint on a team, and how many left-handed specialists can say that?

All the clamoring for Junior to be traded to an American League has been answered, only the team is the Chicago White Sox. Multiple sources, led by Fox's Ken Rosenthal , have reported that the Griffey has approved the trade for infielder Danny Richar and pitcher Nick Masset - neither of whom are exactly household names - not even for a person who covers baseball.

How Griffey is going to be used remains to be seen. The White Sox have a pretty solid outfield with Carlos Quentin in left, Jermaine Dye in right along with Brian Anderson and Nick Swisher.

But with the 1B/DH Paul Konerko scuffling right now, Griffey could move to center (although he would be a defensive liability at this point in his career) and Swisher would move to first with Jim Thome as DH.

Who knows, SI's Jon Heyman points out that White Sox GM Ken Williams may be in the process of making another move to free up a spot for Griffey.

Either way, Griffey leaves a Reds' team well out of the race, and joins the White Sox, a team with legit postseason chances, good for him.

For those of you hoping for a Griffey return, it's still possible. He will be a free agent at the end of the season.

The Mariners traded relief pitcher Arthur Rhodes to Florida this morning for a minor-league pitcher.

While much of the talk about possible trades for the Mariners surrounded a different left-handed pitcher, the trade of Arthur Rhodes should have been expected. He will be the first of about five or six left-handed relievers to get traded.

Why?

Because the left-on-left specialist is a needed commodity for down-the-stretch success. The Marlins bullpen has been decent this season but their lefty specialist Reynel Pinto leads the NL in appearances at 57. Rhodes offers some insurance and a veteran presence in the bullpen. Even this year in Seattle, he provided plenty of leadership for what is a relatively young bullpen.

Realistically Rhodes has been somewhat of a surprise since he's coming off of Tommy John surgery. His velocity is in the low 90s and his breaking pitches have been solid - regardless of what happened last night (he was clearly getting squeezed on a couple of calls).

Really the trade is just a rental and Rhodes will be a free agent in the offseason, and able to re-sign with the Mariners if he so wishes. Seattle does have a capable lefty in Cesar Jimenez (but he isn't a classic left on left power guy). The Mariners also have Eric O'Flaherty, who is hurt right now, but still filled with potential.

As for what they got back, I'm still waiting for some information about Gaby Hernandez and what he throws. I will say this though, if he pitched in Albuquerque, his stats are going to be inflated because that is a total hitters park - as are several in the PCL.

If it was the final time Arthur Rhodes donned a Mariner uniform in his career, you can at least say that his exit wasn't dull.

- Ryan Divish

From Jon Heyman's Trade blog on SI.com ...

12:42 p.m.

The Mariners' agreement to send reliever Arthur Rhodes to the Marlins may be giving the Yankees hope that perhaps Seattle will also relent and agree to trade Jarrod Washburn to the Yankees. Word is, Gaby Hernandez -- who went to the Mariners in the Rhodes deal -- was on the table for weeks. Perhaps the Mariners will also relent on Washburn. The Yankees have generously offered to pick up the rest of the $14 million remaining on Washburn's contract through 2009 while sending them a middling prospect. Seattle has been calling around to try to beat that, but the suspicion is they won't. So maybe the Yankees will get Washburn after all.

The team release:

MARINERS ACQUIRE RHP GABY HERNANDEZ FROM FLORIDA MARLINS
Left-Hander Arthur Rhodes sent to Marlins

ARLINGTON, TX. -- Seattle Mariners Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Lee Pelekoudas today announced that the club has acquired right-handed pitcher Gaby Hernandez from the Florida Marlins in exchange for left-handed pitcher Arthur Rhodes.

Hernandez, 22, was 5-8 with a 6.46 ERA in 17 starts combined between double-A Carolina and triple-A Albuquerque this season. He began the season with Albuquerque, making 13 starts before being transferred to Carolina on July 6. He is 3-0 with a 4.30 ERA in his four starts with the Mudcats. Hernandez was on the disabled list earlier this season with a strained left oblique muscle from April 23-May 19.

"We felt the opportunity to acquire a young pitcher made sense as we look towards 2009 and beyond," Pelekoudas said. "Pedro Grifol, our minor league field coordinator, has known Gaby for several years and believes he has a chance to help us in the future."

Hernandez was originally selected by the New York Mets in the third-round of the 2004 June draft. He was acquired by Florida with OF Dante Brinkley in exchange for C Paul Lo Duca on December 9, 2005. Hernandez owns 35-35 with a 3.97 ERA (242 ER, 549.0 IP) in five seasons in the Minor Leagues.

Rhodes, 38, was 2-1 with one save and a 2.86 ERA in 36 relief appearances with the Mariners this season. He has limited opponents to a .230 (17x74) average, while striking out 26 in 22.0 innings in relief. Rhodes has held opponents scoreless in 32 of 36 appearances this season, including a streak of 18 consecutive scoreless games (11.2 IP) that ended last night. He missed all of the 2007 season recovering from "Tommy John" surgery on his left elbow.

Rhodes has a career mark of 77-61, 4.28 in 689 big league games (61 starts) with Baltimore (1991-99), Seattle (2000-03, 2007-2008), Oakland (2004), Cleveland (2005) and Philadelphia (2006). He is 28-16, 3.03 in 312 career appearances with the Mariners. Rhodes currently ranks fourth in Mariners history with 312 career pitching appearances, while his 628 games ranks fourth among active left-handed relievers in the Major Leagues.

Manager Jim Riggleman has little say over what trades do or don't get made, but he's clear enough about sending signals to his players.
SS Yuniesky Betancout, who simply whiffed on a fastball during a squeeze situation on Tuesday finds himself on the bench tonight in favor of Willie Bloomquist.
Riggleman's message is straight forward: Do the little things right or feel free to watch the game from over here.
Good for Riggleman. ...

Pinch-hitting 101 ...
When the Mariners pinch-hit Kenji Johjima in the ninth inning Tuesday for rookie Bryan LaHair, it raised a few eyebrows.
Riggleman's thinking: Lefty LaHair would have more trouble bunting vs. LHP C.J. Box than right-handed hitting Johjima. And if the count went to 0-2 and the bunt sign was lifted, Joh's chances vs. a lefty were considerably better than LaHair's. ...

Hold On ...
Score to take a lead and teams want their pitcher to hold the opposition the next inning. So after the Mariners cobble together a four-hit, two-run rally with two outs for a 2-0 lead, Miguel Batista gives up two home runs and the game is tied.
In Texas, that's Rangers baseball. They don't mind giving up runs, they just can't wait to get their at-bats in. ...

The Deadline Looms ...
By 1 p.m. in Seattle tomorrow, the trading deadline will have passed, and it doesn't look like there's a huge deal on the Mariners horizon.
Without much to offer, and with the interest out there extremely limited, the Mariners aren't in a position to vastly improve their team.
Yes, they could have moved Jarrod Washburn for nothing. And twice, they could have traded Raul Ibanez for a minor leaguer of little interest.
Teams don't see much value in Seattle players. If there's a likely deal, it might be sending Arthur Rhodes to a team - Florida, Milwaukee and even the Mets have inquired - for a mid-level prospect. ...

Streaking On ...
Jose Lopez singles home a run for a 3-2 lead and pushes his hitting streak to 16 consecutive games.
With two months left in the season, Lopez now has 59 RBI.
Last season, he finished with 64. ...

How Many Base Runners Does It Take To Score A Run? ...
More than three. The Mariners loaded the bases with no one out in the seventh inning of a tie game and did not score.
Raul Ibanez flied into a double play, with David Murphy making the catch and throwing Willie Bloomquist out at the plate.
Adrian Beltre then took a third strike. ...

Balls & Strikes ...
Arthur Rhodes appeared to have struck out Marlon Byrd for the second out of the eighth inning, but plate umpire Paul Nauert didn't see the pitch that way, so Byrd walked.
Next batter, Michal Young, flies out - for what would have been the third out - to get home the go-ahead run.
At that point, Mr. Rhodes let Nauert have it and was ejected.
Mariners should have had a lead long before the call or the ejection.
Texas 4, Seattle 3 ...

From ESPN's trade deadline blog, Jayson Stark is reporting that the Mets possible deal for Raul Ibanez is dead because the Mariners were asking for too much.

We have a big all-staff meeting right now, so more links coming soon.

The Mariners made a move and acquired a pitcher today, claiming Luis Munoz off of waivers from the Pittsburgh Pirates. I really have nothing to say about this. But if the guy couldn't cut it in the Pirates organization, what makes him able to make it with the Mariners. Lee Pelekoudas called it "low-cost, low-risk" which means low interest to me.

Here's the press release.

MARINERS CLAIM RHP LUIS MUNOZ FROM PITTSBURGH

Munoz will report to Double-A West Tennessee

ARLINGTON, Texas. -- Seattle Mariners Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Lee Pelekoudas announced today that the Mariners have claimed right-handed pitcher Luis Munoz off waivers from the Pittsburgh Pirates and optioned him to double-A West Tennessee.

"One of our scouts saw him and liked him a little bit, so we thought it made sense to add him to our inventory," Pelekoudas said. "It is a low-cost, low-risk addition to our group of minor league arms."

Munoz, 26, was claimed by the Mariners after being designated for assignment by Pittsburgh on July 27. The right-hander was 4-7 with a 6.03 ERA in 20 games, 19 starts, combined between triple-A Indianapolis and double-A Altoona. He struck out 56, walked 42, while opponents are batting .300 (119x396) against him.

Originally signed by Pittsburgh as a non-drafted free agent on July 3, 2000, Munoz has spent his entire career in the Pirates organization. In eight minor league seasons, Munoz has combined to go 41-32 with 1 save and a 4.14 ERA (305 ER/663.0 IP). In 2007 he led all Pittsburgh farmhands in wins (14), ranked second in ERA (3.57) and third in strikeouts (105).

With the addition of Munoz, the Mariners now have 40 players on the Major League 40-man roster.

Now he belongs to the ages - Ichiro Suzuki singled to open the game, his 3,000th professional hit.
"That's a phenomenally impressive total, I don't care where you're playing," GM Lee Pelekoudas said.
Unfortunately, the Mariners failed to capitalize on a first-and-third base, no one out situation.
Ichiro got to third base, but never scored. ...

Speaking of trades:
Pelekoudas reaffirmed that any trade made before the Thurseday deadline will be motivated solely to improve the team, not to dump salary.
"There's a misconception out there that we're trying to unload salary," Pelekoudas said. "It's not true."
Meanwhile, the Rangers reminded the Mariners why scoring that runner at third base with less than two outs is so important.
Texas 2, Seattle 0

Just What Does 3,000 Mean?
Ichiro is now the second Japanese player in history to reach 3,000 hits - Isao Harimoto has 3,085 hits.
The problem of putting all this in context is that 1,722 of Ichiro's hits came in the big-leagues and the others came in Japan.
To say that's the same as 3,000 major league hits is foolish, but it's still an amazing total, no matter where you're playing or against whom.

Ninety Feet Away
Seattle has now gotten two base runners to third base and not finished the job, leaving each there.
The Rangers, too, have had two men reach third - and they managed to score both.
Subtle differences in the way hitters approach their jobs.
It's a big factor in why the Mariners lose close games. ...

Not Worth the Wait...
Carlos Silva hadn't pitched in nine days as the team wanted to give him plenty of time to get past his back spasms.
The problem tonight was, he couldn't get past the third inning.
The sinker didn't sink, and a five-run rally punctuated by Marlon Byrd's three run homer has the Mariners in a 7-0 hole.
And it has the bullpen working overtime yet again. ...

The Streaks Live ...
Second baseman Jose Lopez now has a career-best 15-game hitting streak, and rookie Bryan LaHair - who started his career 0-for-8 - has now batted safely in six games in a row.
Lopez has stayed away from the temptation to pull every pitch, and using the entire field has made him a .300 hitter.
LaHair? He's a big, likeable first baseman who doesn't have an all-or-nothing approach, and he's starting to feel comfortable. ...

Just Another Two-Game Winning Streak ...
The Mariners haven't had a long winning streak all season and likely wo't. Here's why:
To win more than two games in a row, a team needs an offense that can overcome mediocre pitching - like the Rangers.
Or it needs a solid starting rotation, pitchers who can turn a close game over to their bullpen late in the game.
The Mariners have neither. ...

Top of the 6th...
Three more Seattle runs, and the Mariners get the tying run to the plate in Adrian Belre, who chased a bad pitch and struck out.
If the Mariners could just hold Texas a few times, who knows? The Rangers have scored in four of the first five innings. ...

Back-to-Back!
It's hard to believe, and more research may be required, but the Mariners say the consecutive home runs by Lopez and LaHair in the seventh inning are the first back-to-back homers the team has hit in 2008.
Amazing.
So is this game. ...

Ichiro vs. Every Day Eddie ...
Eddie Guardado just struck out Ichiro to open the 8th inning, and it came as no surprise. Ichiro is now 0-for-6 against his ex-teammate.
Before the game, Guardado was teasing Ichiro, reminding him that he'd had the chance to get hit No. 3,000 on Monday - and Eddie had gotten him to fly out.
"Not against me, Ichi-san," Guardado said.
Not tonight, either. ...

Now Running For Seattle ...
Ninth inning, Lopez singled and pinch-hitter Kenji Johjima is hit by a pitch. In so much pain he had to leave the game, Joh was replaced at first by pinch-runner Jarrod Washburn - who was caught by TV cameras pulling up his pants and borrowin a belt from manager Riggleman.
As it turned out, Washburn just scored the go-ahead run.
Seattle 10, Texas 9.
These are the moments that make you love baseball. ...

Bottom Ninth ...
Against J.J. Putz, ex-Mariner Ramon Vazquez doubled home two runs and the Rangers win, 11-10.
Just another game in the 'how did we lose this one' pile. ...

Think about that question for a moment.

And then answer this question, "What would your answer be?"

It's not a complete impossibility. Think about it. The Mariners have made it clear that they won't trade players just for the sake of trading them. The whole ordeal surrounding Jarrod Washburn's possible trade to New York is a good example. Although it has been the most speculated deal for a pitcher with a losing record that I've ever seen, it still might not happen. And deals for Raul Ibanez and Arthur Rhodes are not guarantees either.

In this story from the NY Post, a source close in the Yankees front office, called the deal "dead."

Their baseball columnist Joel Sherman called it a "game of chicken."

I went on KJR (I can't find the mp3 of it) and said that if the Yankees are willing to take on Washburn's remaining salary and give up a mid-level prospect, I'd be all for it. To be fair, Washburn isn't going to be a part of the Mariners future success. If the Mariners can take his salary off the payroll, it seems like a gift to me. If this offer was on the table two months ago, the deal is already done. But apparently that isn't enough now.

On the radio, I likened the Mariners' to the nerdy kid in high school, who desperately wants to go to the prom and asked just about every girl with a pulse to go only to be turned down. And then when a girl comes up and asks the guy to go, he has the audacity to say she's not quite good looking enough for him.

Really? How picky can the Mariners be in this situation. The Mariners could trade Washburn, dump the salary and insert Ryan Rowland-Smith and his league-minimum salary into the rotation next year ... and the results might be the same if not better.

But then again, I guess I can see the idea of interim general manager Lee Pelekoudas (if he is calling the shots on this) not wanting to get fleeced just because teams know that he in sell mode.

It is like playing chicken. Pelekoudas has made his intent and asking prices known for Washburn, Raul Ibanez and Arthur Rhodes and so far he hasn't blinked. He's holding out hope that other teams will in desperation. After watching Mike Mussina stink like the water in Wapato Lake last night and if Darrell Rasner throws out a stink-bomb tonight, the Yankees could definitely change their thinking.

It's the same with the Mets, the Marlins, Phillies or other teams in the pennant race. Going back to my prom analogy, none of these teams want to be left without a date. They don't want to be the ones sitting around after the deadline and wishing they made a move to improve the team. And only to come up short in the push for a playoff spot. I think Mariners fans know that feeling well from past years.

Let's get to some links ...

* Here's Larry's game story from yesterday

* Here's his game notebook

* The voice of the Rainiers, Mike Curto, filed this story for us on the Rainiers wild loss last night.

A few notes in the story -- catcher Rob Johnson, the best defensive catcher in the organization, has bumped his average up .308, too bad we already have three catchers on the 25-man roster, with the worst of the three inked to a three-year, 24 million extension. I will now go throw up in my hat.

Michael Saunders has left the Rainiers to join the Canadian Olympic team.

Saunders isn't the only player going to the Olympics. Kui Hon Lo, a Ms prospect in High A High Desert, is heading to Beijing to represent Chinese Taipei.

From Kelly Munro's alwaysinformative minor league report.

TRIUNFEL NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Carlos Triunfel earned his first career player of the week honors as he was named the California League Player of the Week, July 21- 27. Triunfel may be the youngest player on the High Desert Mavericks, but he sure doesn't act like it with the stick. Triunfel had 3 games in which he had at least 3 hits and his 2 home runs accounted for more than half of what he previously had on the season. Triunfel also stole 2 bases in back-to-back games, perhaps part of the reason he scored 15 runs in just 7 games. .500 (15x30), 15 R, 3 2B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 1 BB, 3 SO, 6 SB, .800 SLG

* The Aqua Sox lost, but Dennis Raben hit a home run and was 2-for-3 in the game.

He's hitting .339 with 20 runs, nine doubles, three home runs 11 RBI 15 walks with an OBP of .481 and a slugging percentage of .629.

On a programming note: Larry did the game updates yesterday (Snydro no complaining for a week now), but my question is which format is the easiest for you guys to navigate. Let's decide on one and we'll both try and do it the same way.

* Michael Young broke a finger in last night's game.

Want to see what it looks like to see Adam Jones hit a grand slam --- look below.

Yes, Jones hit a grand slam in the Orioles win over the Yankees yesterday.

Jones is hitting .280 with 17 doubles, 6 triples, 7 home runs and 48 RBI. He does have 88 strikeouts and just 19 walks, so his OBP is .321 and his slugging is only .412, but I'd still take him over several Mariner players.

* It appears that Mark Teixeira is headed to the Angels. At this rate, they'll finish 30 games ahead of the Mariners in the AL West standings.

* SI's Tom Verducci writes about why the Red Sox shouldn't trade Manny, but he also has some interesting stuff on Jon Lester below.

Felix Hernandez is 22-years-old and began the 2008 season with big goals – numbers beyond the 14 wins he posted last year or his career earned run average of 3.94.

Now 20 starts into the season, he has battled minor injuries and the frustration of pitching much better than his statistics show. By the numbers, Hernandez has seven wins and a 3.02 ERA.

What he has to battle is the what-ifs of Major League Baseball.

So far this season, Felix has seven no-decisions. In those seven games, he has averaged 6 1/3 innings and fashioned a 2.02 ERA.

In some of those games, he left with a lead and saw the bullpen give it up. In others, the Mariners simply didn't score for him.

He doesn't complain. He knows that's part of the game. But at 22, with a 7-6 record, it's hard not to think of the wins that got away.

Ichiro grounded out in his first at-bat, by his own admission nervous about needing two hits for 3,000 in his professional career - here and Japan.
Adrian Beltre, on the other hand, loves the heat and greeted the 101 degree temperatures here with his 17th home run.
Coming with Jeremy Reed and Raul Ibanez aboard, it's a quick 3-0 lead.
Leads in Texas almost inevitably are challenged....

Bottom of the 1st ...
Felix Hernandez hasn't found a rhythm, and it's cost him two runs already. That can happen against the top of the Rangers lineup - Ian Kinsler and Michael Young each hit safely before Felix had thrown five pitches. ...

Top of 2nd....
OK, it's going to be one of THOSE games here - the kind you have to wait until the bottom of the ninth before calling a winner. Rookie Bryan LaHair's first big-league home run gives Seattle a 4-2 lead, and the wind is swirling. ...

Bottom 3rd ...
Kinsler & Young strike again, setting up a Milton Bradley RBI. Felix is throwing breaking stuff for strikes, missing with his fastball. ...

All Hail Mr. Lopez ...
The hitting streak is now a career-best 15-games, and no Mariner has had one as long this year. ...

Texas Loses Young ...
Shortstop Michael Young left the game with a broken right ring finger, and will miss the rest of the four-game Seattle series. Even without him, the Rangers have come back to tie the game, 4-4. ...

Top of the 5th ...
LaHair singles, takes third on a hit-and-run single by Yuniesky Betancourt and - with no one out - the Mariners cannot score a run. Ichiro is now 0-for-3. The nervousness he spoke of is showing. ...

Bottom of the 5th ...
Kenji Johjima is having trouble behind the plate - aggain. In Toronto a passed ball forced a pitching change. Tonight, a third strike bounced off his glove and allowed a basserunner. Right now, when Clement is healthy enough to catch, Jamie Burke is No. 2 and Johjima is third on the depth chart...

Top of the 6th ...
Ibanez goes deep - No. 15 - and Mariners go ahead, 5-4. ...

Bottom 6 ...
Felix gets throuh six innings with 111 pitches, and in this heat, he appears to have had enough. Now, can the Seattle bullpen hold a one-run lead for nine outs? ...

Top of the 7th ...
Ichiro triples, his second three-base hit in two days and the 2,999th hit of his professional career. Jeremy Reed tried to bunt for a hit to score the run, but was thrown out.
And here comes Cesar Jimenez. ...

Bottom 7...
This is what happens when you have the chance to add runs to a lead and don't - three straight hits to open the inning and the game is tied.
No decision for Hernandez, who gives up three earned runs.
And here comes Sean Green. ...

Top of 8th ...
Mr. Beltre goes deep again, his 18th, and Seattle leads 6-5. Can the bullpen hold a one-run lead with SIX outs to get? ...

Bottom 8th ...
Kenji and Beltre just picked Ramon Vazquez off third base with Josh Hamilton at the plate. Wouldn't want to be Vazquez on the bench. Great call from the bench, wonderful execution on the field.
To the ninth, 6-5. ...

Top 9th...
Kenji singles, Willie Bloomquist runs for him and steals second. LaHair walks, and Miguel Cairo runs for him. Betancourt bunts both over, and Ron Washington elects to have Eddie Guardado pitch to Ichiro.
Ichiro flies out - gets the run home - and is stuck for the night on 2,999.
To the bottom of the ninth, 7-5.

Morrow Time ...
Texas heat, indeed. Brandon Morrow's fastball topped out at 98 mph, he worked around a leadoff single with a double play and picks up 10th save.
Mariners now just 13 1/2 games behind Rangers. ...

The trade that was hours away on Saturday isn’t done, may never get done and in truth was never close to happening.

That’s the way rumors go this time of year, and the Mariners trade of Jarrod Washburn to the Yankees for – take your pick: an outfielder, Kei Igawa or nothing – was a dog that didn’t hunt.

How is that possible? Simple!

Take arrogant New York writers, who assume that their team can get virtually anyone for almost nothing. Add to that the near hysteria of the internet and blogs in late July, and suddenly the word is a deal is imminent.

The two teams talked, yes. Seattle’s GM has probably talked to 20 other teams, too.

Washburn is pitching well, and while some insist he’s pitching over his head, teams interested in acquiring him are offering next to nothing. The Mariners won’t move him for nothing.

With pitching always hard to come by, keeping Washburn as a potential No. 3 or No. 4 starter next year makes more sense to the Mariners than paying part of his salary without a return.

Jarrod Washburn has taken the mound – for the Mariners, not the Yankees – although scouts from a half dozen teams are in the stands watching.

Watching Washburn?

No, not all of them. Some scout are watching Toronto, which has a lot of middle relief candidates, and some are watching Raul Ibanez, who doubled in his first at-bat.

But the ‘pending’ trade of Washburn from Seattle to New York hasn’t happened, and manager Jim Riggleman has been told by the front office that it’s not about to.

The deal, which was for either an outfielder – Melky Cabrera’s name was mentioned – or a certain Japanese pitching bust, may still happen. Or it could be just another annual rumor that floats through all of fandom and then fades away.

Either way, Washburn pitched a 1-2-3 inning. And did it in a Mariners uniform.

No sooner had the Mariners lost their seventh consecutive game than the rumor of Jarrod Washburn having been traded to the New York Yankees hit the clubhouse.

“I haven’t heard a word about it,” manager Jim Riggleman said.

“As far as I know, I’m still a Seattle Mariner – but let me check my phone messages,” Washburn joked. “My plan is sill to start for the Mariners (Sunday).”

If Washburn is, indeed, to be traded, he’d have to be informed before any deal was completed. His partial no-trade clause includes the Yankees. Asked about what he’d take to kill that option, Washburn couldn’t stay serious.

“I’d want a new ice cream machine in the clubhouse and a pass on their policy on facial hair,” he said.

Is the deal legit? No one with the Mariners seemed certain, and one team executive in Cooperstown, N.Y. for the Dave Niehaus Hall of Fame ceremonies today text-messaged another in Toronto.

“Washburn traded?” he asked.

He wasn’t alone.

Everyone has a theory on what interim general manager Lee Pelekoudas and the Seattle Mariners should do next – including a couple of scouts lunching in Toronto on Saturday.

Both thought Pelekoudas was probably not going to win the permanent job, but not because he shouldn’t.

“No matter who he trades at the deadline, what he’s going to get back are prospects,” one scout said. “And you can’t evaluate deals like that for a year or two. He could trade Adrian Beltre and Raul Ibanez and J.J. Putz and get a bunch of young players back.

“But if he does, how does ownership evaluate that in October? It’s just too soon.”

The other scout, who’s followed the Mariners for a few weeks, said the Mariners have lots of pieces, but they don’t fit together.

“You take your middle infielders,” he said. “They’re both good players, but not together. Betancourt is a free swinger in a lineup of free swingers – why should he change if no one else does?

“I’d move him, because he has value, but he probably won’t reach his potential in Seattle.

“The problem Lee’s going to have is if he moves some of these guys, fans won’t know the players he gets back and they may not have an immediate impact in the majors. That doesn’t mean they won’t. It just means if you evaluate Pelekoudas on what happens between June and October, it’s not a fair amount of time.”

The Mariners, both scouts agreed, need help at first base, center field and throughout the rotation.

“And this team doesn’t have a No. 3 or No. 4 hitter,” one scout said. “Ibanez, Beltre, they’re probably best suited for hitting fifth of sixth in a good lineup. Their best hope for a heart-of-the-lineup hitter is probably (Jeff) Clement. He has the swing to hit 30 home runs at some point.”

As for trades, they said Pelekoudas doesn't have the luxury of time to make deals.

"Some trades are better left to the off-season, not the trading deadline," one scout said. "If Lee doesn't make them now, though, will he get an off-season? I don't think so."

Whatever hopes the Seattle Mariners had about putting the starting rotation they once envisioned on the mound took another hit Friday – Carlos Silva is down with back issues.

That means R.A. Dickey will pitch Saturday on short rest, Jarrod Washburn will work Sunday and, Monday in Texas, it will be Felix Hernandez.

Manager Jim Riggleman hopes Silva can pitch Tuesday, but no one has an idea when left-hander Erik Bedard will pitch again. As of Friday, the shoulder that has sidelined him all month wouldn’t even allow him to play catch.

With all that going on, the team is considering sending Brandon Morrow to Tacoma in August, giving him three starts – one of three innings, one of five, one of six – and then bringing him back to the majors in that role.

Will it happen?

“I think if you asked everyone in our front office, our scouts, coaches and players, 50 per cent of them would say Brandon should start,” Riggleman said. “The other 50 per cent would say he’s better suited for the bullpen.”

One thing is certain. Before the season ends, pitchers like Ryan Rowland-Smith, Morrow and Ryan Feierabend will be auditioned for the Seattle rotation of the future.
And the way pitchers are going down, it won’t be hard to find a spot for any of them.

This weekend, in Cooperstown, N.Y., Dave Niehaus will be honored by the Baseball Hall of Fame.

In honor of his induction we bring you a few of his most memorable calls.

Share it with any baseball fan you love.

The story:
Niehaus reflects on 40-year Hall of Fame career

An off-day for the Mariners, but not for me. Larry is in Toronto with the team. I am staying home and preparing for some family coming out to visit.

Anyway let's get to some links ...

* First of all here's my game story from today's paper. I don't know if it wasn't accurately coveyed in my story, but I don't think Willie Bloomquist's dropped ball in centerfield cost the Mariners the game. It didn't help. But it wasn't the ultimate deciding factor.

Think about it. If Bloomquist makes the catch, Jacoby Ellsbury was going back to tag at third, and he would have easily tagged up and made it to third. And even if he hadn't, he's still fast enough to score on Mike Lowell's single to left. Willie's error did lead to two additional runs though. And a three-run deficit to the Mariners might as well be 30. Seattle had five innings worth of at-bats to score one run and win the game. They couldn't do it.

Why? Well, for one thing they have horrible approaches at the plate with runners on base and in scoring position. They were 0-for-7 with RISP yesterday.

Our intern Stephen Chen led with those issues in his game notebook.

Larry wrote our main story for today's paper on Dave Niehaus' impending hall of fame induction. It's on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. and will be broadcast on MLB.com.

* PCL saves leader Jared Wells blew a save last night for the Rainiers. More importantly, lefty Ryan Feierabend makes his first start for the Rainiers since injuring his elbow early in the season.

* I didn't get to post this yesterday, but Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe had an interesting game story the other day.

Here's an excerpt ...

The way the Mariners are swinging, a 12-year-old from Daisuke’s old Little League team from Tokyo will gladly skip Williamsport and the Little League World Series, where they’re scheduled to represent Japan, to take his shot at Seattle.

It's tough to disagree with him.

Here's Gordon's game story from today's paper.

* The P-I's Jim Moore wrote about Erik Bedard in only the way Jim Moore can.

* Here's a great story on R.A. Dickey and Tim Wakfield and the pitch they share.

* As always, Jayson Stark's Rumblings and Grumblings is a must read.

Here's a few notes on the Mariners from it ...

•

Seattle's slew: It could be an action-packed week in Seattle. When we surveyed teams this week on players they expect to see moved, Jarrod Washburn was voted most likely starter to get traded and Arthur Rhodes was voted most likely left-handed set-up man to relocate. The Mariners are driving a slightly harder bargain on Raul Ibanez, but if they don't move him, too, it won't be for lack of interest.

• Yo Adrian: Despite reports that the Twins have given up on their attempts to pry Adrian Beltre away from Seattle, we're hearing those discussions are far from dead. The Twins' No. 1 trading priority is to upgrade at third base. One team that reportedly has packed it in on Beltre is the Dodgers, after they learned that Beltre's no-trade list specifically blocks his return to Chavez Ravine.

Here's what Buster Olney had in his blog ...

• The Marlins are reluctant to pay Colorado's asking price for Brian Fuentes, and they've expressed interest in Seattle reliever Arthur Rhodes.

• The Yankees are fully cognizant that Jarrod Washburn has a full no-trade clause, but they don't intend to add any financial enticements to convince him to waive it. "If he wants to come here, great," said one club official. "If he wants to stay in Seattle, we have other options."

* Yankees manager Joe Giradi called Richie Sexson "awesome" at first base. Mariners fans used another adjective that started with "A."

* Former Mariner Shin Soo Choo may have to leave the Indians to serve in South Korea's military. I remember there was some concern for Cha Seung Baek over similar situations.

* It's bad enough that the Padres are terrible, but it's worse that they're boring to watch writes Nick Canepa.

* Santa Rosa Press Democrat columnist Lowell Cohn isn't drinking the Billy Beane Kool-Aid.

* The world's finest news organization - the Onion - has this funny story about Prince Fielder and CC Sabathia.

* Our daily affirmation as to why it would never be dull covering Ozzie Guillen.

* ESPN's Jerry Crasnick lists his top nine Ozzie meltdowns.

* This Boston columnist wants Red Sox fans to drop the Yankees Suck chant. What's next? No "Sweet Caroline" in the eighth inning.

* Trade Roy Halladay, could you imagine what he would command in return?

Not much going on today, no Yuni in the lineup today. Manny Ramirez is out of the lineup for the Red Sox with a sore knee.

GAME THOUGHTS START HERE:

6:12 -- Mariners load the bases and Vidro grounds out to end the inning. game over

5:39 -- Boston takes a 6-3 lead, a lead-off single and a Bloomquist error in center - on a dropped ball - open the floodgates for three runs.

5:12 -- the Mariners threaten getting runners on first and third with one out, and predictably Kenji Johjima grounds into an inning-ending double play.

4:57 -- Well, the Mariners haven't done much to even threaten to win the game, they did little against Manny Delcarmen and Jacoby Ellsbury stolen about three hits from them with his outfield play. We head to the bottom of the 11th with the murder's row of Vidro, Beltre and Betancourt.

4:22 -- Still 3-3, pitchers are dominating and some drunk idiot just ran onto the field. It should be a 1,000 dollar fine for anyone who does that.

3:35 -- It's now a 3-3 game, Jose Vidro just deposited a 93 mph fastball from Bucholz into the right field stands for a two-run homer.

3:26 -- It's now 3-1. Felix got into some trouble giving up two singles and then walking Sean Casey to load the bases. But he battled back and struck out Jed Lowrie and Jason Varitek. But I think you could almost see him let up a little on Coco Crisp and he walked him on four straight pitches to force in a run. AFter a quick visit from Mel Stottlemyre, Felix regrouped and got Ellsbury to pop up to LaHair to end the inning.

Felix may have given up a run, but he battled there, and that's what I think separates him from Bedard at this point. Granted, I don't think we've ever seen a completely healthy Erik Bedard yet this season, so it's tough to know what he can do.

2:50 -- Raul with a bomb, an absolute blast, to right-center to cut the lead to 2-1, Vidro followed it up with a single and it looked like the Mariners might threaten with a big inning, then Beltre struck out, Reed struck out and Johjima grounded to short.

2:36 -- Bryan LaHair comes up with a somewhat controversial infield base hit, in which Red Sox manager Terry Francona thought he was out. So the Mariners have the lead-off runner on with No. 9 hitter Willie Bloomquist (a good bunter) coming up, so surely they would bunt LaHair to second to give Ichiro an RBI opportunity. But NOOOOOOOOOOOOO, instead they let Willie swing away and he strikes out. Why not bunt, it's not as if Willie is going to double LaHair home, since he has exactly one extra base-hit all season. These are things I don't understand.

2:25 -- OK, well Ichiro makes a fantastic catch, robbing JD Drew of a three-run home run. But the next batter, Kevin Youkilis drove a pitch to right and Ichior misplayed the base hit, leading to another run. So if you're scoring at home, that's a RBI single for Youkilis and an error on Ichiro that led to the other run.

1:51 -- Ichiro is now five hits away from 3,000 career hits.

And then he gets picked off by Bucholz.

Bucholz then just mowed through Lopez and Ibanez. He's got some pretty good stuff.

1:47 -- Felix works out of a little trouble in the first due to a couple walks.

RED SOX
Jacoby Ellsbury LF
Dustin Pedroia 2B
JD Drew RF
Kevin Youkilis 1B
Mike Lowell 3B
Sean Casey DH
Jed Lowrie SS
Jason Varitek C
Coco Crisp CF
------------
Clay Bucholz P

MARINERS
Ichiro RF
Lopez 2B
Ibanez LF
Vidro DH
Beltre 3B
Reed CF
Johjima C
LaHair 1B
Bloomquist SS
---------
Hernandez P

Mariners broadcaster Dave Niehaus will be inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame on Sunday.

Send us you testimonial or favorite Niehaus memory via e-mail (sports@thenewstribune.com) or just add a comment below. Please include your full name and hometown.

We'll publish some of the responses in the Sunday sports section.

So we've got Dice-K going tonight. And everybody knows that he throws more pitches per at-bat than almost any other pitcher in baseball. check out this mini-preview on tonight's start.

Let's see if the Mariners have that figured out ...

GAME THOUGHTS START HERE:
9:34 -- The Mariners score some runs, on an RBI double by Ichiro and an RBI single by Lopez, but Raul grounds out and Vidro lines out to center, 4-2 sox going into the ninth.

Also I forgot to mention that Jeff Clement had his thumbnail torn off his right-hand, I can't wait to see it.

9:24 --- Congrats to Bryan LaHair, his first big league hit, and just the third Mariners hit of the game.

9:03 -- yes, the comments stopped abruptly. I don't know if it was the blog software, or my wireless connection but I just couldn't get anything to load, particularly the blog software. And, no it wasn't to hang with Levine. Snydro, you are such a smart-a%%, you remind me, of, well, me.

Not much to report, Dickey got in some trouble and gave up a pair of sac flies as the lead grew to 4-0. The Mariners have got just two hits on Dice-K. And he has just 84 pitches in six innings. In most of his starts, he has about 150 pitches in six innings and is out of the game.

But a perfect example of the Mariners lack of plate discipline came in the fourth inning. Raul Ibanez drew a four-pitch walk, Vidrto has an eight-pitch at-bat and works a single up the middle, bringing up Beltre. What does he do? He swings at the first pitch, inside and off the plate, gets jammed and grounds into a 4-6-3 double play.

7:50 -- RA Dickey gets out of a huge jam in the second. Jeff Clement hurt his finger on foul pop, getting it caught in the netting behind home. he's now been taken out after striking out at the plate.

Dice-K needed just 11 pitches to get through the Mariners that inning.

7:17 -- Apparently Ichiro doesn't believe in scouting reports cause he swung at the first pitch. Lopez did see three pitches before striking out. Ibanez gets a hit and Vidro works the count some before striking out looking. Dice-K throws 13 pitches in the first inning.

7:14 -- JD Drew slams a 3-2 pitch over the wall in right for a home run. Ichiro tries to make a play and comes closer than I thought he would.

7:09 -- Two huge Army transport helicopters, you know the kind with double rotors, flew over the stadium. It was pretty damn cool.

LINEUPS
RED SOX
Jacoby Ellsbury LF
Dustin Pedroia 2B
J.D. Drew RF
Manny Ramirez DH
Mike Lowell 3B
Kevin Youkilis 1B
Jed Lowrie SS
Jason Varitek C
Coco Crisp CF
--------------
Daisuke Matsuzaka P

MARINERS
Ichiro RF
Lopez 2B
Ibanez LF
Vidro DH
Beltre 3B
Reed CF
Clement C
LaHair 1B
Betancourt SS
----------
Dickey P

At some point, I'm going to figure out a way to get the links out to you early in the morning. But that would require me to get up early in the morning and that's been a problem.

The word on Erik Bedard's MRI is within an hour or two, you'll know as soon as I do.

Let's get to the links ...

*

* And finally, reason No. 3,455,678,999 for me disliking A-Rod. He signed with a Hollywood talent agency.

Manager Jim Riggleman just told the media that Erik Bedard had an MRI today on his ailing left shoulder. He hasn't gotten the results of it, but probably will later this afternoon.

"Nowadays you get them back after a few hours," Riggleman said.

What the results will show remains to be seen.

All along the Mariners have maintained it was just shoulder stiffness. But who knows? From inside sources, Bedard calls most of the shots when it comes to his health. So maybe he's the one who ordered the MRI, and perhaps why Riggleman said this.

"From the time he came out of the game, July 4th, the next couple days after that, it didn't feel good. It was nothing that said he was going to miss a start. But as he missed a start or two, and wasn't able to comfortably come out and say I'm ready to fire it around and play some catch and get ready to throw a bullpen - the more days of that, it just became apparent that let's see if we can't clear his mind that there's nothing structurally wrong there. Give him the peace of mind to go out and let it go and know that he's not going to hurt himself."

Perhaps, Bedard, who's eying free agency after next season is worried that coming back will hurt his arm and hurt his future. Or perhaps there is something structurally damaged in the shoulder. If there is, that would just be the capper on what has been a horrible trade for the Mariners.

Bedard threw on Sunday in one of the indoor cages at Safeco. I think it was just catch, nothing more. But Riggleman said "he wasn't up to throwing yesterday."

When Bedard will be up to throwing again is anyone's guess. But my guess it won't be till August at the very earliest.

I'm going on KJR today at 1:50 p.m.-ish, so if you have nothing better to do, go ahead and listen. I'll post an mp3 of it later on the blog. Gotta sneak in a few games of pick-up hoops.

OK, here's the podcast of my interview with Ian. In it I get pretty critical of Yuniesky Betancourt and Jose Lopez. I'm far from the most critical guy, but that was something that's been building all season. (More on this later)

Still waiting on the guess for the other guy to hit a ball over the centerfield wall at Cheney.

From Sharkhawk: It was A.J. Zapp. I gave everybody a day to figure it out....... I thought master of all sports knowledge Syndro would have gotten it.

WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER!!

It was the AJ Zapp.

The Seattle Mariners are returning to KIRO Radio beginning next season, the team and Bonneville International jointly announced today.

The three-year agreement, which is subject to approval by Major League Baseball, will continue through the 2011 season. Financial terms of the agreement were not released, but the Seattle Post-Intelligencer report the deal to be for $5.5 million per season, down from the $10 million per season the club received the last six years.

"We could not be more pleased about renewing the great tradition of Mariners baseball on 710 KIRO," said Bonneville Seattle Vice President and Market Manager, Carl Gardner.

The Mariners are currently in the final year of a six-year agreement with KOMO 1000 News, which has carried the team's broadcasts since 2003.

"Returning to KIRO and Bonneville feels like we're going home," Chuck Armstrong, Seattle Mariners President and Chief Operating Officer said in a release.

"KIRO was our flagship station for 18 years and we are looking forward to renewing our ties with one of the great stations and broadcast ownership groups in the nation."

The Mariners will have a year-round presence on KIRO including all regular season games, as well as pregame and postgame programming, a weekly magazine feature program during the baseball season, the Hot Stove League during the off-season and 20 Spring Training games.

Play-by-play announcers are employed by the Mariners and will continue to be so under the new agreement.

A slideshow from the game featuring images of Puyallup's Jon Lester.

Seattle Mariners manager Jim Riggleman, center, stands on the pitching mound with catcher Jeff Clement, right, and third baseman Adrian Beltre (29) after Riggleman pulled starting pitcher Jarrod Washburn in the sixth inning of an MLB baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Monday, July 21, 2008, at Safeco Field in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Game thoughts two days in a row. First a few quick links that didn't make it into the last post. This New York Post story talks about the Mets need to pick up another outfield bat, and with the asking prices to high for Jason Bay or Xavier Nady, the Mets may settle for Raul Ibanez.

I don't know what Raul would command in terms of return. But with Pedro Martinez ailing, Oliver Perez stinking and the Mets pitching staff struggling, maybe the M's could package Jarrod Washburn in the deal to get a little more back. It's just an idea.

If Washburn wants to up his trade value, pitching well tonight against a pretty decent Red Sox lineup would go a long ways. I see at least five scouts here tonight. Granted not all of them are here to see Washburn, but a few are.

Cha Seung Baek hit a home run the other day for the Padres. Apparently the Cardinals or their fans didn't appreciate how slow he ran the bases. So Cha Sizzle has a home run this season and Bloomquist and Cairo do not. Interesting.

* Puyallup native and Bellarmine Prep grad Jon Lester gets the start tonight. In his young career, Lester hasn't fared well in his return trips to the Northwest. In two starts at Safeco, he's 0-0 with a 8.10 ERA and in 10 innings pitched.

But he should have plenty of rest coming into the start.

Youngsters Jeff Clement and Bryan LaHair are in the lineup despite Lester on the mound. It's a thrill for LaHair, who grew up in Worcester, Mass. and was a Red Sox fan growing up.

GAME THOUGHTS START HERE:

9:55 -- Batista is in to relieve. I don't know what to make of this. It would normally be his throw day so I figure he just volunteered to help out the bullpen.

9:44 -- Three straight singles with Bloomquist lining a single off of Lester's leg. He leaves the game after going seven and a 1/3, allowing no runs and eight hits. Francona is going to Papelbon for the five-out save.I thought they may go to Hideki Okajima to face Raul, but after dropping three straight in Anaheim, Francona is going with his horse.... and he gets Raul to ground into a double play to end the inning.

9:33 --- Well, the lead is up to 4-0. Mark Lowe got in trouble with a walkl and a single and then Cesar Jimenez comes and walks Jason Varitek to load the bases. And then he fell behind 2-0 to Jed Lowrie, who sat on a fastball and hit a two-run single.

9:20 -- Nice sequence, the Mariners get runners on first and second and then Cairo strikes out, and then they pinch hit Vidro and he flies out to right. MOJO! MOJO! MOJO!

9:06 -- From wowjont: Has anyone guessed the other guy to hit a homerun over the center-field fence at Cheney Stadium correctly? If not, it was Jose Canseco way back in 1985 (and the fence was even taller in '85 than it is now). He's a free agent too, isn't he?

It was not Jose Canseco. Although he did have that type of power (medicinally enhanced), he did not hit the ball over center at Cheney Stadium. And he also got his butt kicked by Vai Sikahema.

Still waiting for that guess ...

8:47 -- Washburn goes 5 2/3, allowing two runs on seven hits, and throws 113 pitches. In the NL, the way he pitched would have got him through six easily.

From Moo: TV announcers said Washburn's era is under 2.5 in his last 7 (now 8) starts. Surprised he hasn't been traded yet (no sarcasm this time).

No sarcasm needed there. Washburn's outing was pretty darn solid against a pretty good Boston team. I don't know that he'll be here in two weeks.

8:17 -- Jason Varitek just breaks up the 0-0 game, crushing a belt high, 87 mph fastball to left for a two-run homer. Washburn had been flirting with danger all night and finally got caught.

Two runs isn't a lot and you almost expect Washburn to give up a couple of runs, but it's not looking the like the Mariners are going to get much off of Lester.

7:50 -- Dustin Pedroia with a nice play on the ground ball up the middle getting Ichiro at first. If you watch him play long enough, you can't help but like him.

7:38 -- Not much cooking so far. Lester has been very solid. I forgot how hard he can throw, he's not a soft tosser by any means. Washburn hasn't been quite as dominant but a pair of double plays have helped him out.

Cairo's first at-bat as DH tonight resulted in a weak pop up to right. Did you know that this will be the 10th time he's started a game at DH. It makes you wonder who was on those teams when that happened.

7:04 --- Washington STate coach Paul Wulff threw out the first pitch. At least, he didn't "Coug It" and throw it in the dirt. Have we reached a point where "pulling a Bedard" is commonplace in the Washington lexicon, like "Couging It"?

No word if any of Wulff's players were in the centerfield beer gardens. (come on that was too easy.)

Here's tonight's lineups

RED SOX
Jacoby Ellsbury LF -- he's slumping and he may lose some playing time when Big Papi comes back.
Dustin Pedroia 2B -- one of five players in the major leagues that I am taller than.
JD Drew RF -- An outsider for the AL MVP
Manny Ramirez -- who knows what to expect from him.
Mike Lowell -- He struggled a little against the Angels going 1-for-13
Kevin Youkilis -- He didn't struggle against the Angels, hitting .300 with two homers and 4 RBI.
Coco Crisp CF -- He's hitting .476 against Washburn (10-for-21) in his career.
Jason Varitek C -- paging Heathcliff Slocumb
Jed Lowrie SS -- the rookie was called up when Julio Lugo got hurt. No word if a Red Sox fan actually found a way to injure Lugo.
-------
Jon Lester P -- He has the potential to mow down this Mariners' lineup

Mariners
Ichiro RF
Bloomquist CF
Ibanez LF
Beltre 3B
Lopez 2B
Cairo DH -- Oh my God. Is there a large comet headed toward earth? The end is near! The end is near!
LaHair 1B
Clement C
Betancourt SS
----------
Washburn P

It's been a few days without some links, so I figure we better get to it. One quick note, I did a TV interview for Q13's Q it up Sports about a week ago. It was supposed to air after the all-star game, but all those extra innings didn't allow it. So they aired it last night at 10:35 on Q it up Sports. I didn't warn you, because, well, nobody needs to see my gargantuan head on their TV, especially in Hi-Def. But I will try and get Aaron Levine to send me over a copy to post on hear so you can mock me at will. Here it is...

Moo,
Thanks for the kind words. The break from the blog wasn't a News Tribune decision as much as it was me taking some time off as well. I was a little burnt from the road trip to Atlanta, New York, then San Diego, plus I also had a wedding and a fantasy baseball camp (more on that later) to attend. But I promise to still be more of a presence on the blog. Remember though, this is Larry's beat first, I'm just here to help out and supplement when I can.

Enough about that let's get to some links ...

* Here's Larry's game story from yesterday

* As we talked about yesterday, Ryan Rowland-Smith was sent down to Triple A to get stretched out. Here's Larry's game notebook leading with that. You know what? I still don't agree with it. If Rowland-Smith is at 75 pitches now, why does he need to go down to Triple A to get stretched out to 90 which might take about two starts. I would much rather take my chances with him starting up here than see Miguel Batista, or for that matter, Carlos Silva toe the rubber for a start. I'm actually getting more irritated while I type this.

* John McGrath wrote a column about starting Ryan Rowland-Smith over Miguel Batista after watching Batista only get six outs and give up eight runs.

* I didn't post this yesterday, but it ran in Sunday's paper. Anyway I played in a the Tacoma Rainiers Fantasy Baseball Camp and wrote a story about it. A week and a half ago, it was a blast. I had a lot of fun and met some great people.

* I also managed to hurt my elbow pretty badly and was called Bedard by the people there. A big thanks to Mariners trainer Rick Griffin and team Dr. Khalfyan, who gave me a quick check up. Don't mess with your ulnar-collateral ligament kids, it's not something to take lightly.

Has it really come to that? when you don't finish something you start and leave early for suspicious reasons, people call you Bedard? How can a reputation fall so fast?

* As for the Rainiers, Rob Johnson (a fellow Montana boy) hit a home run with his newborn son attending his first game.

* The Red Sox come into Safeco a wounded team.

* Jorge Posada is back on the DL, perhaps for the season. I know of a place where they can get a catcher.

* Harold Baines got a statue in the outfield of U.S. Cellular Field. One of the first major league games I've ever been was Twins and White Sox in the Metrodome and Harold Baines hit an inside the park home run.

* Chris Snyder talks about his "injury" calling it the worst pain he's ever felt. All guys in this world could agree.

* This is a reason why I would want to cover Ozzie Guillen every day</strong>. It would be entertaining.

Carlos Silva just walked off the mound with lower back tightness – and the Mariners rotation is now officially a mess.

Felix Hernandez is the ace, two starts off the disabled list. Erik Bedard remains unavailable with a tender shoulder and no ETA for pitching again. Silva gave up a three-run home run and left the game in pain.

Jarrod Washburn is being scouted by a half dozen other teams. Miguel Batista can’t get outs consistently. And R.A. Dickey is only starting because of injuries to others.

And here comes Boston.

Ah it's a beautiful day up at Safeco Field. I'm up here hanging out with Larry. Originally, I had the day off, but since there seem to be no softball umpires in the greater Portland area, I decided to come up and take in the game.

And since I'm up here goofing off, I thought I'd offer up some game thoughts... Of course the big news is Ryan Rowland-Smith being sent to Triple A. Let's see, the guy pitches well almost every time he's called upon, while Miguel Batista can't make it four innings without giving up six runs and putting the Mariners in a huge hole every time he steps on the mound. It makes little sense to me.

Honestly, how much confidence do you have in the Mariners winning a game that Batista starts? Little? None? I imagine its impossible for his teammates to feel the same way. Take yesterday, he walks the first batter of the game, and it's downhill from there. And have you noticed how impossibly long he takes between pitches or when a runner is on base. Maybe that's why the Mariners make errors behind him, because their lulled into sleep by constant full counts and sheer boredom.

GAME THOUGHTS START HERE:

3:48 -- Final score Indians 6, Mariners 2. Working on Linkage post for later.

3:44 -- Cliff Lee is going for the complete game. Secretly I wanted them to pull him so we could get our weekly rant from Dave8557. But Lee is cruising. Even with an error from Jhonny "don't call me Dwyane" Peralta to put runners on the corners, but Yuni flies out to end the game.

3:24 -- Cairo provides a run with an RBI triple, his first triple since Sept. 15, 2007.

3:19 -- Mariners get runners on first and second with no outs and what happens Joh promptly grounds into a double play - his second of the day.

JJ looked pretty good in his return. He pumped his fastball up to 97 in the inning.

3:16 -- From: awashburn3 -- Mark McGwire went deep over the centerfield wall as a Tacoma Tiger, didn't he??? 1986ish??

No, not according to my sources. He may have hit one over the wall during BP, but not in a game. Next guess please ...

3:01 -- Willie with an in-field hit, which draws a huge cheer from the Safeco crowd? Why such a large cheer? Well it is Willie, and also because it was just the fourth hit off of Lee. He's been pretty tough, getting ahead in the count, changing speeds and pitching efficiently. This isn't some brilliant new philosophy, just something a few Mariners pitchers haven't quite mastered yet.

Oh wait another hit for Raul, that's five. The Mariners have something going, aaaannddd Beltre grounds out to the pitcher to end the inning.

2:29 -- Debisfriends coming out firing. I like that. I like that a lot.

I have lost all faith in Miguel Batista to get outs and not give up runs. Riggleman tried to justify it by saying that Batista can't get his regular throwing in because of his rash of minor injuries., and that once he does that we'll see a better version of Batista. Well, that's true, because I'm not sure it could get any worse. I remember hearing rumors of Batista being very upset for being dropped to the fifth starter before the season starts. Right now, he's fortunate to be a starter at all.

Batista will get 9 million dollars this season and Silva gets 7 million this season, so that's 16 million for eight wins and 22 losses as of the fifth inning.

There is no justification for Batista being in the rotation, none.

Oh and now the score is 6-1 as the Indians got two runs off of Roy Corcoran in the fifth.

2:00 -- OK, well it's now 4-1 after Silva gave up a three-run bomb to Kelly Shoppach. And shortly thereafter Silva left the game with lower back tightness. Everett Herald writer Kirby Arnold noticed Silva was laboring about two batters before and said he wasn't throwing his fastball. So now Silva is out, and the bullpen is going to have to go the rest of the way.

Riggleman did say he figured Rowland-Smith would be back before September. He may be back before August.

1:50 -- Silva's lead lasted all of about five minutes. Former Mariner Asdrubal Cabrera doubled to let and later scored on a sac fly to right to tie the game at 1-1. What was pretty funny is that Ichiro caught the ball on the warning track - knowing he had no chance of getting Cabrera - and instead fired the ball toward home on a huge arc that Kenji Johjima caught in the air. It was pretty funny and impressive.

1:40 -- The Mariners grab a 1-0 lead on Jose Vidro's stinging line drive off the center field wall, it clearly left a mark in the paddding and ... oh wait, Beltre scored on Vidro's dribbler up the middle that bounced off the second-base bag. Still a 1-0 lead. I'm thinking they may need more.

Here's today's line-ups ... complete with comments
Indians
Grady Sizmore CF - Hey did you know he's from the area. I don't see how you couldn't if you listened to five minutes of any broadcast. Is there a player on the Mariners you wouldn't trade him for?
David Delluci DH -- He once dated Gena Lee Nolin off of Baywatch.
Casey Blake 3B -- I doubt he's wearing a Indians uniform in two weeks.
Jhonny Peralta SS --- The dyslexic spelling of his name. Mine would be Rayn.
Shin Soo-Choo RF -- Big day yesterday, one of two players to ever hit a home run over the centerfield wall at Cheney Stadium. Can you name the other one?
Kelly Shoppach C -- Teach your kids to catch, because its the best way of making it to the big leagues and staying there. You don't even have to be great, or sometimes even good, and if you play for the Mariners, you'll get a three-year, 24 million dollar extension.
Ryan Garko 1B -- I got nothing for him
Franklin Gutierrez LF -- him either
Asdrubal Cabrera 2B -- Like Choo another former Mariners player, I wonder if he'll hurt his former squad today.
-----------
Cliff Lee LHP --- the Mariners are supposedly this great team against lefties, maybe not Lee-type of lefties.

Mariners
Ichiro RF
Bloomquist CF
Ibanez LF
Beltre 3B
Lopez 2B
Vidro DH
Johjima C
Cairo 1B
Betancourt SS
--------
Silva P

The Seattle Mariners have decided to make left-hander Ryan Rowland-Smith a starting pitcher, but they’re going to do it in Class AAA Tacoma.

Making room for J.J.Putz on the 25-man roster Sunday, the team sent Rowland-Smith to Tacoma, where the reliever-spot starter will begin working out of the Rainiers rotation. How soon will he be back – that depends upon Miguel Batista.

For now, Batista stays in the Seattle rotation.

“We need a starter down there who’s ready to come up and help us,” manager Jim Riggleman said. “Ryan threw 75 pitches (Saturday), so stretching him out to 90-95 pitches won’t take long.

“I think we’ll see him before September.”

In two starts with Seattle – without being stretched out – Rowland-Smith went 8 2/3 innings and didn’t get a decision. What he did was impress the team enough to want him to start again.

There’s a reason there are so few knuckleball specialists in the majors – and it’s the same reason R.A. Dickey has had so much trouble sticking in the Seattle rotation despite his success.

The bottom line: Most managers and pitching coaches don’t trust the pitch.

Every pitcher fights the endless battle of what to do when his stuff isn’t there on any particular day, but most managers think the knuckleball is the worst offender.

Few understand the pitch – other than considering it something of a freak of nature.

If it’s breaking well, it often eludes the strike zone. It can drive veteran catchers crazy, which is why Jason Varitek almost never catches Tim Wakefield.

In the case of Dickey, his "spot" in the rotation is so tentative that the moment Erik Bedard can pitch, Dickey returns to the bullpen. Why?

Jim Riggleman is leary of the knuckleball on a consistent basis. He respects Dickey, but considers his main pitch a trick pitch. It’s the dilemma every knuckleball pitcher has to face – no matter how well they throw their specialty, people in the game are leary to rely upon it.

All Dickey can do is continue to pitch well when he has a chance. It would be the same in most organizations, he knows, and Seattle has given him more of a chance than any other team.

So if you throw a good knuckleball, enjoy it. Torment your friends with it. Just don’t figure it’s an automatic ticket to the majors.

Photo courtesy of Ashley Rimgale of the Rainiers

UPDATE: OK, J.J. threw an inning and 2/3 not allowing a hit and striking out one batter. He threw one fastball at 95 miles per hour, the rest were either 94 or 93. His splitfinger came in around 85 and had good down movement. He also threw a couple of breaking balls. In all he threw, 17 pitches - 13 for strikes.

-------------------------------------------------

I'm staying back in Tacoma to watch J.J. make his rehab start tonight against the Tucson Sidewinders.

I talked with Rainiers manager Daren Brown, who said that J.J.'s pitch count is set at about 25 pitches. So if JJ were to throw just eight pitches in the first inning, he could go out for another inning.

JJ seems to be in good enough spirits to make fun of me, and from what I hear he plans to try and get back to Safeco to catch the end of the game tonight.

A few other things ...

Brown talked about the rash of injuries that have beset the Rainiers' pitching staff. It started with lefty Ryan Feierabend, who injured his elbow early in the season. From there Eric O'Flaherty, Rich Dohrman, Chris Jakubauskas, Mumba Rivera and Robert Rohrbaugh have all spent time on the disabled list.

Talked briefly with Rob Johnson, who had missed the last couple games to spend time with his wife, who just had a baby boy. It's their first child and he was pretty pumped about it.

Saw Wlad Balentien and Tug Hulett, who both seemed to be in good spirits.

I'll give you a full report on J.J.'s progress as it goes.

Here's the lineup JJ will face...
Jeff Salazar C
Trent Oeltjen LF
Tim Raines, Jr. RF
Jaime D'Antona DH
Josh Whitesell 1B
Jesus Merchan SS
Wilkin Castillo 3B
Matt Morgan C
Donnie Kelly 2B
---------
Juan Gutierrez P

Here's the Rainiers line-up
Prentice Redman RF
Matt Tuiasosopo 3B
Tug Hulett SS
Victor Diaz DH
Wlad Balentien LF
Craig Wilson 1B
Michael Saunders CF
Rob Johnson C
Luis Valbuena 2B
---------
JJ Putz P

Erik Bedard won’t be traded before the July 31 deadline for the simplest of reasons – he may not pitch before then.

Sidelined since July 4 by a tender left shoulder, Bedard reported for duty Friday and told the team he felt no better now than before the All-Star break. As it stands, the Mariners hope Bedard can play catch on Monday.

Catch? Do the math and that doesn’t look like a man who’s going to be showing scouts he’s healthy any time soon.

“We’re going to shut him down until Monday, and we’re not going to push,” manager Jim Riggleman said. “There’s a good chance he won’t pitch again this month, but the issue is getting him healthy.”

In his absence, R.A. Dickey will take over the fifth spot in the rotation.

Yep, that headline is correct. And for most of the baseball writers, we were all still a little stunned.

The first person I saw when I walked into the clubhouse was Bryan LaHair, which obviously wasn't that surprising, since I was certain he was being called up yesterday. But as soon as I got done talking to LaHair the next person I looked for was Jose Vidro, and there he was sitting in front of his locker. I'm still not sure why Vidro is still around anymore. He has little inherent value to this team.

The player who loses his spot on the roster is infielder Tug Hulett, who is practicing with the Mariners but is being optioned back to Tacoma.

LaHair hasn't officially been activated, and won't be till tomorrow. They do this just in case of a fluke injury or sickness to LaHair before the game.

Manager Jim Riggleman has said that LaHair will start his fair share of games, particularly when there's a right-hander on the mound. However, Cleveland is rolling out three lefty starters this weekend and Riggleman said LaHair will start at least one of those games for certain.

In other news, Erik Bedard and Arthur Rhodes are not at the workout as of 4:33 p.m., weather problems have delayed their flights. This is problem only because Jim Riggleman, trainer Rick Griffin and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre have no idea how Bedard's shoulder felt over the break and how much throwing he was able to do. Stottlemyre ordered each pitcher to throw at least once or twice over the break, but Riggleman admitted he had no idea if Bedard did so. Those of you hoping Bedard will be traded, you can rule out the Phillies, who just traded for Oakland's Joe Blanton. I guess that leaves the Cardinals, or some other team we haven't thought of.

Because of Bedard's unknown status - he is eligible to come of the DL on Saturday - R.A. Dickey will most likely remain in the rotation, while Miguel Batista is somehow still in the rotation. So right now, the rotation sets up with Felix Hernandez on Friday, Jarrod Washburn on Saturday, Carlos Silva on Sunday, Batista on Monday and Dickey on Tuesday.

The Mariners optioned infielder Tug Hulett to Tacoma, a move that presumably clears a roster spot for Bryan LaHair. The team's release:

MARINERS OPTION INF TUG HULETT TO AAA TACOMA

SEATTLE, Wash. – Seattle Mariners Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Lee Pelekoudas announced today that the Mariners have optioned infielder Tug Hulett to triple-A Tacoma.

Hulett, 25, was selected from Tacoma on July 10 and appeared in one game with the Mariners. He made his Major League debut on July 12 at Kansas City, going 1-for-3 as the designated hitter. In 71 games with AAA Tacoma he was hitting .302 (79x262) with 17 doubles, 9 homers and 32 RBI. Hulett was acquired by Seattle from Texas in exchange for INF Ben Broussard on Dec. 12, 2007. He is the son of former Major League infielder Tim Hulett.

ESPN's Buster Olney is reporting that former Mariner Richie Sexson has reached an agreement to join the New York Yankees. He fills the Yankees' need for a right-handed batter to match up against left-handers.

Thanks to a ubiquitous clandestine informant (Yeah, I love the movie "Lean on Me") I have heard that Bryan LaHair is joining the Mariners, most likely today (Thursday).

LaHair, a native Worcester, MA, is hitting .263 with 26 doubles, 12 homers, 53 RBIs with an on-base percentage of .357 and a slugging percentage of .467.

But the real question remains, if LaHair is coming up, then who is leaving?

Has Jose Vidro finally been released? That means no more watching him bat clean-up for the Mariners, which is something that most of you clearly can't stand.

Is there a trade in the works that we haven't heard about, perhaps Raul Ibanez to the Yankees or D-Backs? According to this story, it appears that Hideki Matsui could be having season-ending knee surgery.

Has this team finally started embracing the idea of playing for the future when the present is a complete and total wash? If that's the case can we expect Wlad Balentien to be returning soon?

Who knows? I've come to realize that with this team, the logical decision isn't always the one made. But if I see LaHair today at the work-out at Safeco Field, I'll be happy at least for him. He's put in enough time with enough results to at least get a sniff of the big league life.

National award winning columnist Joe Posnanski of the Kansas City Star has a fantastic personal blog that he updates quite often. He's a fabulous writer, who loves baseball. And he's also one of the few old school baseball writers that has really embraced the sabermetric phenomenon.

Anyway, Posnanski unleashes a great rant about Jose Vidro batting clean-up for the Mariners. It's a rant that most people who watch the Mariners regularly also make.

I think this might be my favorite part of his rant...

Thing is, that sort of crazy quote was inevitable: Because there is no possible quote you could offer that could explain hitting Jose Vidro cleanup unless that quote is:

1. “He does have possession of those photographs I would prefer to keep private.“
2. “He’s my son-in-law, and hey, I have to keep peace in the house.”
3. “Hey, what would you do if you got a fortune cookie that read, ‘Hit Vidro fourth?’
4. “My owner has him in his fantasy league.”
5. “I lost the cleanup spot in a poker game.”
6. “I had this dream about him, and my psychiatrist said this is what it means.”
7. “Mr. Rothstein insisted.”
8. “Jose Vidro? Wait. When did we lose Jose Guillen?”

In respect to Mr. Posnanski, I'd like to add a few more ...
9. "Well, he is an improvement over Richie Sexson."
10. "Hey we might still be able to trade him for something, anything. We are running low on batting practice balls and pine tar rags."
11. "Have you seen the roster I have to work with?"
12. "Does it really matter?"

Just cause most of the Mariners aren't playing baseball today (or for much of the season so far), doesn't mean we aren't talking about baseball. I was on a brief hiatus from the blog because of a work assignment (it was about baseball) that will run on Thursday. No other hints though.

Anyway, I haven't got to weigh on the Richie release or anything else Mariners related for the last few days, but that's coming later. First lets get to some news and notes through the miracle of internet links.

Let's lead off with yesterday's rare win for the Mariners ...

* Here's Lash's game story that talks about that crazy play at the end that led to the win. A couple of hints as to my secret story for Thursday (no it's not like Miguel Batista's secret to pitching), that last play was something I saw plenty of this weekend. And another hint: I also watched Clement's homer on TV with Dave Henderson.

* Here's the game notebook which leads with Jim Riggleman spending his all-star break in Seattle

* Here's the story from the Kansas City Star about the game.

Ichiro will bat lead-off in Tuesday's all-star game.

2008 All-Star Lineups
National League:
1. Hanley Ramirez, Florida, ss
2. Chase Utley, Philadelphia, 2b
3. Lance Berkman, Houston, 1b
4. Albert Pujols, St. Louis, dh
5. Chipper Jones, Atlanta, 3b
6. Matt Holliday, Colorado, rf
7. Ryan Braun, Milwaukee, lf
8. Kosuke Fukudome, Chicago, cf
9. Geovany Soto, Chicago, c
P: Ben Sheets, Milwaukee, rhp

American League:
1. Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle, rf
2. Derek Jeter, New York, ss
3. Josh Hamilton, Texas, cf
4. Alex Rodriguez, New York, 3b
5. Manny Ramirez, Boston, lf
6. Milton Bradley, Texas, dh
7. Kevin Youkilis, Boston, 1b
8. Joe Mauer, Minnesota, c
9. Dustin Pedroia, Boston, 2b
P: Cliff Lee, Cleveland, lhp

Other Mariners' related links ...
The Tacoma Rainiers picked up a win. Bryan LaHair had a two-run single and the newest Rainier Craig Wilson had a homer.

I didn't get to post this the other day, but Charlton Jimerson was released by the Rainiers. It's too bad, he went from being on the opening day roster of a major league team to released. I think the biggest issue is that he could never develop any consistency at the plate, which is something that's dogged him throughout his career. He'd shown some hints, but they were few and far between. He was hitting just .233 with Rainiers at the time of his release. To make matters worse, he had an on-base percentage of just .250. In 219 plate appearances, he had just THREE walks with 80 strikeouts. That's not a misprint. Three walks in 219 plate appearances - that's beyond Betancourt-esque.

That being said, Jimerson was a great guy, who is supremely athletic with some talent and has worked hard and overcame a lot to get to where he is. I hope he gets it figured out and continues to keep playing. Best of luck to him.

* One player who isn't having any trouble at the plate right now is second-round pick Dennis Raben. In this story from the Herald, Raben believes he's a better hitter with wood bats than aluminum bats, which is rarely the case.

* Over in Jackson, Tenn., Mariners' outfielder/DH Mike Wilson seems to have things figured out in comparison to last year's struggles. He's putting up big numbers and was the player of the month in June for the Southern League.

As of today, he was hitting .275 with a .373 OBP and a .551 SLG with 20 homers and 67 RBI

* High Desert got a win and Carlos Triunfel had three hits, including his third homer of the season.

* Phillippe Aumont made the Futures game, but he didn't get to play.

Trade talk
* The Arizona D-Backs joined the Mets, Yankees and a few others in looking to acquire Raul Ibanez. The P-I's John Hickey had a story with a source from the D-Backs (I'm wondering if their initials were B.M. or B.P.) who said the Mariners are asking too much for Ibanez.

* We posted on here the other day, the link to the LaVelle Neal story that the Twins had some interest in acquiring Adrian Beltre. Just the other day, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire pined for a right-handed hitter with some pop.

* AJ Burnett had perhaps his best outing of the year for the Blue Jays. Toronto's made it no secret about wanting to trade him. And now the Phillies, who are also interested in Erik Bedard, have started looking at Burnett. Like the Mariners, the Blue Jays, specifically Tony LaCava, have been scouting some of the Phillies better prospects.

* Also there are numerous reports that lefty closer Brian Fuentes of the Rockies is highly coveted on the market. Whoever loses out on the Fuentes sweepstakes, might look to Arthur Rhodes as a consolation prize.

Let's go around baseball ...
* SI's Jon Heyman came out with his mid-season awards, and not surprisingly a few Mariners won awards for futility.

* Adam Jones has been moved up to No. 2 in the Orioles order.

In this notebook, it leads with Melvin Mora stranding 11 runners on base. I don't think even Richie did that. Also a little lower in it Orioles starter Radhames Liz (yes that's his real name) was chastised by manager Dave Trembley. I liked this quote...

"I may not like having to come out here all the time and talk every day, but it's an obligation, a responsibility that you have, and you have to take the bitter with the sweet," Trembley said. "You've got to be able to handle it with some dignity, and I think that's how you get respect."

* Tim Lincecum wins again, he should have been the starter for the all-star game, I will not argue this point.

* Rick Telander also has a column on Lincecum.

* Ozzie Guillen had another tirade about his team. It would be mildly interesting to cover this guy on a daily basis.

* The Oakland A's are not big fans of Angels closer K-Rod and his on-field antics.

Losing close games isn't always a matter of last-pitch home runs allowed or striking out with the bases loaded.

Ichiro Suzuki led off the game with a single Sunday and cost his team a run.

How?

On what lookedd like a routine soft line drive single to center field, Ichiro loped out of the batters box - and center fielder David DeJesus kicked the ball all the way into left field.

By the time Ichiro turned on the speed, and no, his hamstring is no longer an issue, he couldn't reach second base. He was erased on a subsequent double play, instead of taking third on a ground ball to the right side of the infield.

And had Ichiro hustled into second, then gone to third on that grounder, he'd have scored when Raul Ibanez flied out to right field.

Instead, Ibanez made the third out and the Mariners didn't score.
And that, folks, is one way to lose close games.

Everyone who likes to play general manager has an idea for the Seattle Mariners just now - from trading Erik Bedard to moving J.J. Putz.

Reality isn't helping.

The sore shoulder that's sidelined him has forced the Mariners to schedule him as the No. 5 starter after the All-Star break, and they insist there's no guarantee he'll be ready by then.

As for Putz, the Mariners closer is due $9.6 million next season. That's a hindrance.

In their search for more offense, the Seattle Mariners are trying a new DH tonight - Tug Hullet.

At 5-foot-8, he's not the traditional power hitter, but the Mariners hope his slashing style of play adds something they've been missing.

For those wondering, he's not the shortest DH in history. That would be Walt Williams, who was 5-foot-6.

The tallest DH ever? Frank Howard, listed at 6-foot-7.

Closer J.J. Putz will begin his rehab assignment work by pitching Sunday, then Tuesday in the Arizona Rookie League.

On the disabled list since June 13, Putz will then make a Friday appearance for Tacoma.

Beyond that? The Mariners will evaluate Putz after his Tacoma game, and if he's sharp, he'll return to the Seattle bullpen.

"It's not about strength, it's about command," Putz said. "If I can control both sides of the plate, I'll be ready."

Maybe the Mariners have found their short-term replacement for Richie Sexson in former Pirates 1B/OF Craig Wilson, who they've apparently traded for a player to be named later, according to the Associated Press.

Wilson is hitting .230 with 10 homers and 27 RBI at Triple A Indianapolis.

Are those numbers better than Bryan LaHair's?

No. LaHair is hitting .256 with 12 homers and 49 RBI, .353 OBP, .461 SLG. I don't know what LaHair has done not to at least get a token call up. Maybe he's not an every day first baseman, but I'd rather see him there than Sexson or Vidro or Cairo or Wilson at this point.

Wilson played regularly in 2004, hitting .264 with 29 home runs and 82 RBI in 155 games, but posting a franchise-record 169 strikeouts in 561 at-bats.

On a plus note, he led the Major Leagues at being hit by pitches in 2002 (21) and 2004 (30).
Wilson tied the Major League single-season record for pinch-hit home runs with seven in 2001

Um, I really have nothing to say about this other than Wilson is probably just a body to fill in. He'd have to be added to the 40-man roster to make the Mariners.

Richie Sexson, who hit 105 home runs in 3 ½ seasons with Seattle – but batted just .218 this season – has taken his last swing as a Mariner.

Released by the team Thursday, Sexson will become a free agent on Monday, and even the team that let him go believes he’ll play again.

“This isn’t the end of his career, he’s got baseball left in him,” manager Jim Riggleman said. “We just couldn’t find the key to open that door for him.”

At age 33, that likely is true – and Sexson has drawn tentative interest from the Angels and Dodgers, among other teams.

Releasing Sexson was something the team had discussed for weeks, but the final decision came after Wednesday’s game, which Sexson didn’t start.

“Richie wasn’t going to play regularly, and I saw his body language on the bench, he was a little perturbed,” Riggleman said. “That was reason enough to do this. We can’t have negativity on the club. I think the players would agree – Richie needed a change of scenary.

A career .261 hitter with 305 home runs, Sexson was batting .218 this year in 252 at-bats, with 11 home runs and 30 RBI. In his time in Seattle, he hit .251 with 105 home runs and 321 RBI.

His best season as a Mariner was his first – 2005 – when he batted .263 with 39 home runs and 121 RBI.

On the day the team released Sexson, they also placed left-handed pitcher Erik Bedard, then brought up two players from Tacoma – infielder Tug Hullet and left-handed reliever Jared Wells.

Wells’ time in the majors could be short. It’s likely he’ll return to the Rainiers Friday, when the Mariners need a roster spot for Felix Hernandez, who will come off the disabled list and start against Kansas City.

The Mariners announced a few roster moves this morning in advance of their game against Oakland. The team releases:

MARINERS RELEASE FIRST BASEMAN RICHIE SEXSON

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Seattle Mariners Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Lee Pelekoudas announced today that the Mariners have released first baseman Richie Sexson.

“We felt that at this time it was in the best interest of the ballclub, and in Richie’s best interest, to make this move” Pelekoudas said.

The Mariners have not yet announced a corresponding move. Sexson, 33, was hitting .218 (55x272) with 8 doubles, 11 HR and 30 RBI in 74 games with Seattle this season.

Sexson was signed as a free agent by Seattle on Dec. 15, 2004, agreeing to a four-year contract. Sexson had over 30 doubles, over 30 homers and over 100 RBI in each of his first two seasons in Seattle. In his Mariners career, Sexson was a .244 hitter (447x1835) with 105 doubles, 105 home runs and 321 RBI in 509 games. His 105 home runs are ninth on the Mariners all-time list.

In his Major League career, Sexson is a .261 hitter with 259 doubles, 17 triples, 305 home runs and 937 RBI.

MARINERS RECALL RHP JARED WELLS, SELECT INF TUG HULETT FROM AAA TACOMA

Place Left-Handed Pitcher Erik Bedard on 15-day Disabled List, Retroactive to July 5.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Seattle Mariners Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Lee Pelekoudas announced today that the Mariners have recalled right-handed pitcher Jared Wells, and selected

the contract of infielder Tug Hulett from Triple-A Tacoma.

The Mariners also announced today that they have placed left-handed pitcher Erik Bedard on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to July 5, with stiffness in his left shoulder. Bedard will be eligible on July 20.

Bedard, who has not pitched since tossing 5.0 innings on July 4, was not scheduled to pitch until after the All-Star Break.

“We felt placing Bedard on the disabled list gave us some extra flexibility over the next week,” Pelekoudas said. “It doesn’t change when he would next pitch, and it allows Jim (Riggleman) to have an extra arm in the bullpen.”

Wells, 26, was acquired by Seattle from San Diego in exchange for RHP Cha Seung Baek on May 21 of this season. Wells was 0-2, 4.41 with 6 saves in 16 relief appearances with the Rainiers since joining the club after the trade.

Wells has allowed just 2 earned runs in his last 8 games (8.0 IP). He made his Major League debut with the Padres this year, appearing in two games and not recording a decision. Wells had nine saves with AAA Portland, allowing 19 hits in 20.0 innings pitched while compiling a 1-1 mark.

In 2007, he spent the full season with Portland. After beginning the season in the starting rotation, he moved to the bullpen fulltime on June 8. Beginning June 8, he was 2-1 with 9 saves and a 2.93 ERA (14 ER / 43.0 IP) in 37 games. Wells did not allow a home run in 43.0 relief innings. He did not allow a run in his final 15 outings (Aug. 6-Sept. 3) converting seven consecutive save opportunities over that span.

Hulett, 25, was acquired by Seattle from Texas in exchange for INF Ben Broussard on Dec. 12, 2007. When he appears in a game, he will be making his Major League debut. He is the son of former Major League infielder Tim Hulett. In 71 games with AAA Tacoma he was hitting .302 (79x262) with 17 doubles, 9 homers and 32 RBI.

Manager Jim Riggleman has a vision, a Mariners rotation with five healthy starting pitchers.

So far, that's all it is - a vision.

Twenty-three pitches into his start Wednesday, Miguel Batista called trainer Rick Griffin to the mound and then left the game with a strained right groin.

If you're counting, that's one pitcher (Felix Hernandez) on the disabled list with a sprained ankle, another (Erik Bedard) sidelined by a tender shoulder and now a third (Batista) unavailable.

Felix is due back Friday, and Ryan Rowland-Smith will probably slide into Batista's spot if needed.

It’s an odd situation to face in any year, but in a season in which you’re dead last among American League teams, why are the Seattle Mariners carrying three catchers on their 25-man roster?

No, it’s not so that Jamie Burke can pitch in relief.

In Burke, Jeff Clement and Kenji Johjima, there’s at least one too many players to give each of them work – so why are they all here?

Burke is a solid backup who’s out of options. He can’t be sent to the minor leagues. Clement is the catcher of the future, according to the Mariners. And Johjima?

The worst-kept secret in baseball is that pitchers don’t like throwing to Joh, and this dates back years. When John McLaren managed, he tried to protect Johjima from criticism, but Jim Riggleman is in charge now.

And Johjima’s time behind the plate has been cut severely.

Instead, Johjima – who signed a three-year extension in April – has done a little DHing and a little watching from the bench. Offering him the lucrative extension was not a baseball decision, but one that came directly from Japan.

Now Seattle has to figure out what to do about it. Joh is untradeable with three years on his deal. He also is clearly unhappy with his role today.

It’s an issue that’s going to be troublesome the remainder of the season and probably beyond.

Normally we start the links with the Mariners, but we're starting with a team in the organization that actually hits the ball - the Everett Aqua Sox, specifically second-round draft pick Dennis Raben, who at this point can't seem to make an out.

I was hoping to get up to Everett to watch Raben play, but he might not be around that long.

We'll stick with the minor league updates some, the Rainiers got pummeled last night. But the worse news was that Rich Dorman left the game in the first inning with a sore arm. Here's Mike Curto's story on the game and Dorman. Also in the story, it notes that Bryan LaHair just returned from missing seven games with a foot injury.

Alright I guess we'll get to the Mariners.

I watched the game last night. Justin Duchscherer is good, he's got 10 wins and an all-star and deservedly so. When he can throw his curveball for a strike, he's filthy. And he shut the Mariners down with startling efficiency. But really is shutting out the Mariners that big of an accomplishment, he just joins the list of pitchers that the Mariners' hitters have made look like all-stars for one game this season....

Here's a refresher:
Edwin Jackson, Tampa Bay
Zack Greinke, Kansas City
Ervin Santana, Los Angeles
Paul Byrd, Cleveland
Daniel Cabrera, Baltimore
Cliff Lee, Cleveland
Chien Ming Wang, New York
Vincente Padilla, Texas
Tim Wakefield, Boston
Dustin McGowan, Toronto
Tim Hudson, Atlanta
Roy Halladay, Toronto
Justin Duchscherer, Oakland

Now there's some pretty good pitchers on that list, but these were all starts that I watched in person with the exception of the Duchscherer and in those games, the Mariners didn't have a sniff against these guys. They swung early, swung often -- usually at bad pitches and were dominated.

Lash's notebook leads with Erik Bedard getting shut down till after the all-star break. No big shocker here, but then again the media writes whatever they want to write. I watched his interview with Brad Adam from a few weeks back on Mariners all-access. First of all, take off the sunglasses. Seriously? Who does he think he is Kanye West? Second of all, did he really say anything that we hadn't heard? No.

* John McGrath chimes in with a column today based on a conversation we had on Sunday at the Mariners game, about why the Mariners still playing players like Sexson and Vidro, who won't be a part of next year's team. Neither of us could come up with a logical reason, other than Pelekoudas is still holding out hope that they might get something more than a cracked fungo and a used pine tar rag for either of them.

* The SF Chronicle had a short story on the game. The reason being there was some other stuff to cover yesterday on the A's beat, namely the trade of Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin to the Cubs.

* Chronicle columnist Ray Ratto has his take on the trade.

* Chicago columnist Rick Morrisey also weighs in on the trade. Jay Mariotti also had a column on it, but I won't be posting any Mariotti columns on here today, or ever.

* In this notebook from the Minneapolis Star Tribune, there is mention that the Twins may have some interest in trading for Adrian Beltre.

* Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman breaks down some possible candidates for trades. Bedard and Raul are of course mentioned. And as usual he takes his shots at Ichiro... this time for making the all-star game.

And oh yes, Ichiro (.302), who plays hard only occasionally, shouldn't be allowed anywhere near Yankee Stadium. That one was the fault of the fans.

* Apparently when Pat Gillick looks at acquiring players, he looks at heart over numbers. Perhaps that's why he drafted Michael Garciaparra two picks ahead of David Wright.

* So Red Sox fans are not only annoying, but now some of them are psycho and criminal.

* Tim Lincecum's velocity was down in his last night's start.

A-ROD TIME!!! A-ROD TIME!!! A-ROD TIME!!! A-ROD TIME!!!

A few people have asked me why I post this, well, as some of you know I have 3,232,967 reasons why I dislike Alex. It started back in 2000 when I was interning for the TNT. I had to run down to the clubhouse and try and get a quote about a knee injury he was recovering from. And he proceeded to put "Who let the dogs out!" on repeat on the clubhouse sound system and playing it at 12,000 decibels. To this day, I dislike him and hate that song, which was a plague upon society as we know it.

And yes SharkHawk, most of A-Rod's female dalliances are a bit mannish.

From the NY Daily News...

Apparently more women (I'm sure all mannish looking) including the wife of John Rocker (this is just getting better by the second)have come forward to discuss their relationships with A-Rod.

A-Rod didn't make the NY Post cover today, but there was a story about him demanding to see his children, which I think is a pretty fair demand.

Here's the actual divorce paperwork.

Thanks to Pete Morisseau for sending this little piece of goodness in ....

Erik Bedard’s first half officially ended Tuesday, when the Seattle Mariners said the oft-injured left-hander would not start before the All-Star break – and wouldn’t be among the first two or three starting pitchers afterward.

“We have enough pitching to get us to the break and then four days during the break, so why not use it to help him get id of all the nagging things bothering him?” asked manager Jim Riggleman.

Acquired in trade before spring training and named the Mariners opening day starter, Bedard has missed games this season because of a sore hip, back spasms and now a tender left shoulder.

When healthy, he’s gone 6-4 with a 3.67 earned run average, pitching 81 innings in 15 first-half starts.

With Bedard sidelined, the Mariners will return Ryan Rowland-Smith to the bullpen and start Jarrod Washburn on Saturday, then Miguel Batista on Sunday.

And after the All-Star break?

Riggleman said the tentative plan was to start Felix Hernandez, Washburn, Silva and then Bedard after the break.

“It would be nice to start the second half with the pitching staff we envisioned coming out of camp,” Riggleman said. “If we get Felix and Erik and J.J. (Putz) back healthy, we’re a much improved team.

Hernandez and Putz are on the disabled list, scheduled to return to the team early after the All-Star break. Bedard reported a tender shoulder after his last start.

Jim Riggleman continues to look at his full roster, and tonight’s lineup includes a new-look infield – one without Yuniesky Betancourt and Jose Lopez.

In their places, Willie Bloomquist will start at shortstop and Miguel Cairo at second base.

Here’s the full lineup:
Ichiro RF
Bloomquist SS
Ibanez LF
Vidro DH
Beltre 3B
Reed CF
Sexson 1B
Clement C
Cairo 2B
Silva RHP.

A few people e-mailed me this, but Erik Bedard went on a Philadelphia radio station.

Here's the interview.

It was relatively bland and boring, like most Bedard interviews. Apparently, we "say whatever we want" when it comes to him and his performance. Yeah, it's all our fault that he can't get past five innings in 100 pitches and then we write about it.

* Here's Larry game story from last night's loss to the Sacramento River Cats, er, Oakland A's

Like most of you, I watched the game on TV. I have a question: When Beltre forgot how many outs there were and then forgot to touch third on his retreat back to second, do you think honestly knew he did anything wrong? More specifically, do you think he knew he had to touch third again on his way back? To me it didn't. He had that same confused look that I used to see Sammy Sosa have when he played right field.

* Here's the game story from the San Francisco Chronicle.

* Here's the gamer from the Bay Area Newsgroup.

* It appears that the Mariners will be seeing some new players for the A's, apparently like five Cubs players since they were traded for Rich Harden.

* The game notebook led with RA Dickey's willingness to pitch every day.

* Sean White and the Rainiers got beat by White's former catcher at the University of Washington Ben Johnson.

* AUDIO ALERT: Here's Kim Ng on the radio with Softy from earlier today.

* The Hardball Times is pretty interesting blog. Most fans probably know about, but some don't. Anyway they have an annual piece called the Von Hayes All-Stars, which is a team comprised of players that take drastic downturns in production in their 30s. The Mariners have four players on this year's squad.

* I can't remember if I posted this lately. This is the single worst thing I've ever seen in baseball.

Say this about the 2008 Seattle Mariners – they’re not your every day bad team.

On Sunday, catcher Jamie Burke was the losing pitcher.

In Oakland, in the process of blowing a 3-0 lead – on a Richie Sexson home run, no less – the Mariners ran themselves out of a promising inning by forgetting to step on a base.

Fifth inning, one out, Adrian Beltre at second base, Sexson at first. Kenji Johjima hits a fly to center field – and Beltre zips all the way around third base. When he realized the ball had been caught, Beltre raced safely back to second, without stepping on third.
The Athletics noticed, threw to third base and got an inning-ending out.

This series in Oakland is a good test of whether the Mariners are playing well – they’re catching an Athletics team decimated by injury.

Take Frank Thomas, Mike Sweeney, Bobby Crosby and Eric Chavez out of any lineup, the hole left behind is immense, and all four of them are on the disabled list. If ever Seattle should be favored in this ballpark, it’s now.

The Mariners have also scratched together a rotation:
Tuesday: Carlos Silva.
Wedneseday: Miguel Batista
Thursday: R.A. Dickey
Friday: Felix Hernandez
Saturday: Eric Bedard or Ryan Rowland-Smith
Sunday: Jarrod Washburn

A quick programming note: Lash is covering this road trip. He's already in Oakland with the team. Obviously, he'll be posting from there. Also, I'm going to try and keep the links up daily, while working on some stuff here.

From yesterday's 2-1, 15-inning loss...
* Here's my game story leading with Jamie Burke taking the loss.

* Here's my notebook where manager Jim Riggleman stuck up for Erik Bedard basically saying the perception isn't the reality.

* John McGrath was up at the game with me yesterday, here's his column on Burke pitching, with a pretty good last line.

* Here's the game story from the Detroit Free Press from former Mariners' writer John Paul Morosi.

* Here's the game story from the Detroit News.

* Kirby Arnold of the Everett Herald has a funny little column about taking R.A. Dickey's life advice into his golf game.

* The Rainiers' bullpen fell apart in a 4-3 loss to Portland yesterday. The day before, I watched the Rainiers were on FSN and I watched long enough to see Wlad rip a big two-run double in a big win.

* In this story from the Everett Herald you'll see that recently signed second-round draft pick Dennis Raben is tearing it up. He's now 8-for-10 in three games.

* Several West Tennessee players made it to the Southern League AA all-star game.

Elsewhere in baseball....

* Congrats to George Sherrill for making his first all-star team

* Here's a story on Kim Ng from Yahoo sports' Tim Brown.

* Jose Guillen got a little upset with one of the Royals coaches.

* Jamie Moyer is serving as a mentor to some of the younger pitchers on the Phillies staff.

* Some of you may remember Todd Williams, a former reliever with the Rainiers and briefly the Ms and most recently the Orioles. Well, he's still hoping for a chance again to pitch in the big leagues..

* Here's a story on clubhouse chemistry with the A's. Hey I didn't write it, I just find them.

* Let's get the C.C. Sabathia fall-out.

Indians owner Paul Dolan just released this letter to Cleveland fans concerning the deal.

Here's the story from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Columnist Michael Hunt says it was the right move at the right timestrong>.

Cleveland GM Mark Shapiro describes the reasoning behind it.

Columnist Terry Pluto believes that the trade was necessary so the Indians could acquire the power that they are lacking in their lineup in Matt LaPorta.

* It appears the Cubs now have their sights set on Oakland's Rich Harden.

* Tim Lincecum will probably get one more start before the all-star break which might prevent him from pitching in the all-star game.

* Braves outfielder Jeff Francouer felt "betrayed" by the Braves for being sent down to the minors.

* Troy Tulowitzki had to go on the DL because of a temper tantrum.

* Jose Reyes and Keith Hernandez got into a shoving match on the team plane a few days back.

A-ROD TIME!!!!

Well, it's official C-Rod filed for divorce from A-Rod.

Here's the story from the Daily News.

Here's the story from the Post.

Apparently, A-Rod has been brainwashed by MaDonna into becoming a practicioner of Kaballah.

Sorry for no game updates today, the blog software or my computer is acting up and I just didn't want to fight through it. I reached my pitch limit with it, and I was done.

We're in the 13th inning and it's 1-1, surprisingly Jeff Clement or Jose Vidro has yet to pinch hit. Richie is now 0-for-5.

Anyway, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting that Sabathia is headed to the Brewers. That means that those other teams vying for his services, may look to Erik Bedard as a consolation prize. Although, now Bedard has shoulder tightness. His trade value is like the economy, dropping more and more with each passing week.

Ichiro will be making eighth consecutive appearance and seventh start at Midsummer Classic.

From the Mariners' press release...

SEATTLE, Wash. -- In an announcement made today by Major League Baseball, outfielder Ichiro Suzuki has been named to the American League squad for the 2008 All-Star game held July 15 at Yankee Stadium in New York.

Ichiro, 34, will be making his eighth consecutive trip to the Midsummer Classic and was voted in as a starter for the seventh time. He received 2,012,912 votes, 3rd-most among AL outfielders. In seven trips to the All-Star game, Ichiro is 6-for-18 (.333) with a double, home run and four RBI. He was named the MVP of last year’s All-Star game in San Francisco, going 3-for-3 with the first inside-the-park homer in ASG history.

Ichiro is gaining on Ken Griffey Jr. as the franchise leader in consecutive All-Star selections. Griffey was selected 10 consecutive seasons, from 1990-99. This is the 15th consecutive season Ichiro has been named an All-Star, also earning the honor in his final seven seasons in Japan playing for the Orix Blue Wave.

Through Saturday’s game, Ichiro has started all 87 games (69 in CF, 18 in RF) and ranks amongst the American League leaders in several offensive categories. He is 2nd in the AL in hits (110) and stolen bases (34), tied for first in intentional walks (9), 2nd in stolen base percentage (94.4, 34-36) and T9th in multi-hit games (29). He is batting .304 (110x362) with 11 doubles, 3 triples, 3 home runs and 21 RBI. He is on pace for 205 hits, which would be his record-tying eighth consecutive 200-hit season. His 34 stolen bases are on pace to break the club record (60 by Harold Reynolds in 1987) and already set the record for most stolen bases prior to the All-Star break (previously 33 by Julio Cruz in 1983).

In eight Major League seasons, Ichiro has recorded 1,702 hits, becoming the fastest player since 1956 to reach 1,700 career hits and already has the most hits by any player in the first eight seasons of a career. He becomes the first player since Mike Piazza (1993-2002) to be selected to the All-Star game in each of the first eight full seasons of a Major League career. Counting his career in Japan, Ichiro is now only 20 hits shy of reaching 3,000 for his career.

Former Mariner George Sherrill also made the team, while Jose Guillen is on the list that can be voted in for the last spot.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
STARTERS
Pos Player B/T
C Joe Mauer, MIN L/R
1B Kevin Youkilis, BOS R/R
2B Dustin Pedroia, BOS L/L
SS Derek Jeter, NYY R/R
3B Alex Rodriguez, NYY R/R
OF Josh Hamilton, TEX L/L
OF Manny Ramirez, BOS R/R
OF Ichiro Suzuki, SEA L/R
DH David Ortiz, BOSº L/L

Pitchers
Pos Player B/T
P Justin Duchscherer, OAK R/R
P Roy Halladay, TOR R/R
P Scott Kazmir, TB L/L
P Cliff Lee, CLE L/L
P Joe Nathan, MIN R/R
P Jonathan Papelbon, BOS R/R
P Mariano Rivera, NYY R/R
P Francisco Rodriguez, LAA R/R
P Ervin Santana, LAA R/R
P Joe Saunders, LAA L/L
P George Sherrill, BAL L/L
P Joakim Soria, KC R/R

Reserves
Pos Player B/T
C Dioner Navarro, TB S/R
C Jason Varitek, BOS S/R
1B Justin Morneau, MIN L/R
2B Ian Kinsler, TEX R/R
SS Michael Young, TEX S/R
3B Joe Crede, CWS R/R
3B Carlos Guillen, DET S/R
OF J.D. Drew, BOS L/R
OF Carlos Quentin, CWS R/R
OF Grady Sizemore, CLE L/L
DH Milton Bradleyª, TEX S/R

National League
Starting Lineup
Pos Player B/T
C Geovany Soto, CHC S/R
1B Lance Berkman, HOU S/L
2B Chase Utley, PHI L/R
SS Hanley Ramirez, FLA R/R
3B Chipper Jones, ATL S/R
OF Ryan Braun, MIL R/R
OF Kosuke Fukudome, CHC L/R
OF Alfonso Soriano, CHC R/R

Pitchers
Pos Player B/T
P Aaron Cook, COL R/R
P Ryan Dempster, CHC R/R
P Dan Haren, ARI R/R
P Brad Lidge, PHI R/R
P Tim Lincecum, SF L/R
P Ben Sheets, MIL R/R
P Edinson Volquez, CIN R/R
P Billy Wagner, NYM L/L
P Brandon Webb, ARI R/R
P Brian Wilson, SF R/R
P Kerry Wood, CHC L/L
P Carlos Zambrano, CHC S/R

Reserves
Pos Player B/T
C Russell Martin, LA R/R
C Brian McCann, ATL L/R
1B Adrian Gonzalez, SD L/L
1B Albert Pujols, STL R/R
2B Dan Uggla, FLA R/R
3B Aramis Ramirez, CHC R/R
SS Cristian Guzman, WAS S/R
SS Miguel Tejada, HOU R/R
OF Matt Holliday, COL R/R
OF Ryan Ludwick, STL R/L
OF Nate McLouth, PIT L/R

It appears that Erik Bedard's series of health maladies this season will continue. Apparently after his last start on Friday, Bedard complained of tightness in his left shoulder. As a precautionary measure, manager Jim Riggleman has decided to push back his next start. No exact timetable has been given for his return.

Meanwhile, as I type this, Felix Hernandez is throwing a bullpen session in preparation for starting sometime this week. There is no set date, Riggleman said it could be either Thursday or Friday, depending on how this session goes and the use of Miguel Batista.

By virtue of their record under interim manager Jim Riggleman – 9-5 beginning Saturday – the Seattle Mariners have begun taking baby steps upward.

With their 34-52 record, the Mariners are now only the third worst team in baseball, inching ahead of San Diego and Washington with their winning percentage.

Too little too late?

“The challenge is to continue playing well, tweak this thing a littler bit and catch someone in the standings,” manager Jim Riggleman said. “Every win is crucial if you want to regain respect in the American League. We have to prove we can compete with the best.”

The closest team in the AL to Seattle is Cleveland (37-49), and the closest team in the AL West is Texas – which started the night 41-43 and 9 ½ games ahead of the Mariners.

The lineups, for you fantasy types:

Detroit
Granderson, CF
Polanco, 2B
Guillen, 3B
Cabrera, 1B
Thames, LF
Sheffield, DH
Joyce, RF
Renteria, SS
Sardinha, C
Galarraga, RHP

Seattle
Ichiro, RF
Lopez, 2B
Ibanez, LF
Vidro, DH
Beltre, 3B
Reed, CF
Sexson, 1B
Clement, C
Betancourt, SS
Dickey, RHP

Starter Erik Bedard has relied extensively on his bullpen this year – he needed them to get the last 12 outs Friday.

In his last eight starts, he’s pitched into the seventh inning once, and twice been knocked out before completing four innings.

Three times in the last five starts, he’s thrown 99 pitches and then left the game.

Against Detroit, he allowed a leadoff double to Curtis Granderson in the fifth inning, then got a strikeout and two ground balls to end the inning with Granderson still at second.

It was great pitching, but when the inning was done, so was Bedard.

That's not what No. 1 pitchers do and, simply put, it's not the pitcher Seattle traded for.

A year ago, Bedard routinely threew more than 100 pitches in a start. Now, asked to be the ace of a staff, he's decided his effectiveness ends at about 100 pitches.
He has been asked to throw more, to go deeper, to save the bullpen. And he has declined.

So I walk back to my place early this morning, really early this morning, and I check my mail and see my Sports Illustrated there and I see this on the cover ...

Here's Tom Verducci's story about Lincecum.

And to just prove that he's there's no jinx, Lincecum went out and won on Thursday night.

More links in the morning ... late morning that is.

What I wouldn't give to be in Bigfork, Montana for the Fourth of July. But you know what, Safeco Field is a close second. I can still remember the beating that Tigers put on the Mariners, particularly tonight's starter Carlos Silva in Detroit.

In four games,

Here's a link I forgot to put on the earlier post from a Phillies story, but the Phils were scouting Erik Bedard on the last trip and the Mariners had scouts looking at one of the Phillies' top prospects.

GAME THOUGHTS START HERE:

9:01 -- Sorry for the long lapse, but I had to finish the game notebook. Anyway, Silva kind of got nicked and dimed to death with a bunch of singles. Nothing that was hit overwhelmingly hard. And he also lost an out, on a terrible call at home by Mike Winters. Clement did a nice job blocking the plate and Ichiro's throw was right there, Carlos Guillen was out, but he called safe.

7:55 -- Three straight singles lead to a run for the Tigers but Carlos Silva gets out of the jam with a 4-6-3 double play, including an impressive turn by Yuni Betancourt, who did a nice job of handling a low throw from Lopez and still making a good throw to first.

7:31 -- Let's see, Verlander just walks two of the last three guys he faces to load the bases, the Tigers call time and meet with Verlander, who's clearly scuffling, and then he gets in and throws one pitch to Richie - and what does he do? Swing. Grounding out meekly to third. Wasn't he watching the previous three at-bats?

7:27 -- Somebody should tell Beltre that just because he hit home run while swinging and falling to a knee, that doesn't mean it works every time.

7:22 -- a good start for the Mariners. Ichiro rips a single through the right side and then advances to third when Verlander tries a pick off throw and the player that appears to have eaten Miguel Cabrera couldn't reach it. Jose Lopez drives him in to give the Ms a 1-0 lead.

LINEUPS
TIGERS (42-42)

28 Curtis Granderson CF
14 Placido Polanco 2B
9 Carlos Guillen 3B
24 Miguel Cabrera 1B
20 Matt Joyce RF
3 Gary Sheffield DH
36 Clete Thomas LF
7 Ivan Rodriguez C
46 Michael Holliman SS
---------------------
35 Justin Verlander RHP

MARINERS (33-51)
51 Ichiro RF
4 Jose Lopez 2B
28 Raul Ibanez LF
3 Jose Vidro DH
29 Adrian Beltre 3B
8 Jeremy Reed CF
44 Richie Sexson 1B
9 Jeff Clement C
5 Yuniesky Betancourt SS
------------------
52 Carlos Silva RHP

We haven't done a big linkage post in a few days. Larry and I had a big meeting on Tuesday to discuss the second half of the season, so that took some time and just a lot of other little things.

Anyway let's get to it.

* Here's my game story from today's paper that focuses largely on Miguel Cairo ... (you know the words to the song).

* The game notebook talks about John "Mule" Miles, who the Mariners drafted as honorary pick from the old Negro Leagues in conjunction with a promotion from major league baseball.

* John McGrath has a nice column on the voice of the Rainiers and a good friend to all of us at the TNT - Mike Curto. I met him when I was an intern in 2000 covering the Rainiers for the TNT, and hung out with him since returning to Tacoma. He's a class act, and a good baseball guy.

* The Rainiers got whacked by the Colorado Sky Sox the other night.... From the other day, Michael Saunders hit a grand slam in one of the Rainiers' wins.

* Unfortunately for the Mariners, it looks as though Joel Zumaya will be at full strength against them.

* Jayson Stark's weekly Rumblings and Grumblings came out... It's always a must read, here's a part I found interesting.

• Northwest Clearance Sale Dept.: Here's an interesting development: Clubs that have spoken with the Mariners report they're back-burning their attempts to deal Erik Bedard, for the moment at least, because they have more pressing priorities.

And what might those priorities be? Moving the likes of Richie Sexson, Jarrod Washburn, Miguel Batista and Adrian Beltre. That's what. Not surprisingly, unloading Sexson heads that list -- not that they're getting anywhere.

Seattle is even expressing reluctance to deal Raul Ibanez -- at this point, anyway. One club reports the Mariners would like to package Ibanez with someone like Washburn or Batista, in hopes of maximizing the return. Otherwise, they're saying they would move their left fielder only "for a quality young outfielder" and another piece.

* Here's some trade talk from Peter Gammons...

I found this part interesting ...

But everyone knows the Cubs need one more front-line starter. They doubt they have enough to get C.C. Sabathia, although Hendry constantly touches base with Indians GM Mark Shapiro. They are monitoring Oakland; Rich Harden may be the best pitcher in the game. (Former teammate and current White Sox player Nick Swisher thinks someone should take Harden for this pennant run, then make him a closer). Everyone seems wary of Erik Bedard's makeup. There's interest in Randy Wolf, who despite his 14 team "no-trade" list would go to a contender. Wolf made a lot of friends in the Cubs organization by calling Hendry to explain why he chose the Dodgers over the Cubs for personal and family reasons when he went to L.A. The Cubs also keep looking at A.J. Burnett, in case. They'd love Aaron Cook, who apparently isn't available, and have kicked around Bronson Arroyo and Kevin Millwood.

Wolf makes sense, and the Padres still like Matt Murton. So perhaps that's a quick fix, unless they decide to try to get Greg Maddux to leave San Diego.
"It may come down to July 28," says one Cubs official. "But we almost certainly will do something. But we really don't want to give up Gallagher at this point."
Do not be surprised if Cleveland moves quickly on Sabathia.

* The A's think they've signed a possible Felix Hernandez-type pitcher.

* Think the Bedard trade was bad, this wasn't one so great for the Mets.

* The Braves have to make a decision about Mark Teixeira's future with the team soon.

* The Rockies are now in trade mode.

* The Blue Jays want to trade AJ Burnett for a shortstop. I'd say they could have Yuni, but Bedard and Burnett on the same staff might be the downfall of society as we know it.

* Ichiro is mentioned in this story about Jacoby Ellsbury's ability to steal bases.

* Here's an interesting story about Jose Guillen.

* For Dave8557, Dave Righetti recalls his no-hitter on its anniversary.

* The Red Sox are thankful they don't have an owner like Hank Steinbrenner. I think that would be the general consensus of fans for every other team, including Ms fans.

* Apparently Miller Park in Milwaukee has been voted the best Bratwursts in baseball.

* Columnist Tim Cowlishaw thinks the NL should get the DH.

A-ROD TIME!!!! (You knew I couldn't help myself with this.)

Here's the latest from the Daily News

* They also have this story.

* And here's the latest from the Post.

* The Post has a photo gallery of all involved.

* Here's the AP story about it allstrong>.

I should have mentioned it last night. But I saw Dennis Raben hanging out around the clubhouse before and after the game. And now today he signed with the Mariners.

Remember he walked six times in one game earlier this season, which is more than Betancourt, who as five all season, has accumulated in 80 games.

Here's the release from the Mariners

MARINERS SIGN SECOND-ROUND PICK DENNIS RABEN
Mariners have signed 6 of their top 8 selection and 31 picks overall

SEATTLE, Wash. -- The Seattle Mariners Vice President of Scouting Bob Fontaine announced today that the Mariners have signed outfielder Dennis Raben, the club’s second-round selection (66th overall) in the 2008 June Daft. The Mariners have now signed 31 of their 50 selections from the Draft, including 14 of their top 20 selections.

Raben, 20, was hampered this year by an early season injury, but still hit .292 with 51 runs and 51 RBI in 53 games this season at the University of Miami. For Raben, 24 of his 56 hits went for extra bases (14 doubles, 10 home runs). He helped lead Miami to the College World Series, but Hurricanes were ousted by Stanford on June 19. Raben walked six times on June 8 vs. Arizona, tying an NCAA record previously set by Oklahoma State's Josh Holliday on May 29, 1999.

A native of Hollywood, FL, the 6-foot-3, 220-pound Raben played three seasons with the Hurricanes, collecting 30 career home runs, 39 doubles and 131 RBI in 173 games. Raben also appeared in 20 games as a left-handed relief pitcher his freshman and sophomore years, posting a 1-2 mark with a pair of saves.

Raben played and had success for three different high schools, including playing his senior season at Ft. Lauderdale's St. Thomas Aquinas High School, his sophomore and junior years at Hollywood Hills and his freshman year at Grandview Prep. He never lost a game as a pitcher in high school and was the team MVP each season. Raben was selected in the 49th round of the 2005 MLB Draft by Seattle, but elected to attend college instead of signing.

Raben will now begin his professional career with the Everett AquaSox, the Mariners Short-A affiliate in the Northwest League.

Seattle made 50 selections in the 2008 First-Year Player Draft, highlighted by their first pick, right-handed pitcher Josh Fields, who was the 20th overall pick in the draft. The Mariners selected 29 pitchers, including 5 left-handers, 8 infielders, 5 catchers and 8 outfielders. Overall Seattle selected 11 high school players and 39 college players.

We're a little behind, but thankfully there isn't much going on.

One thing I forgot to mention earlier is that manager Jim Riggleman said that they will be monitoring Jarrod Washburn's pitch count closely since he went over 115 pitches in his last two starts.

Also Riggleman said that everyone in the bullpen would be available if needed.

GAME THOUGHTS START HERE:

9:21 --- DING! DING! DING! Good blog readers, that's the official time that Dave8557 chimed in about the piece of Washburn information I posted up at the top. Right now, I pretty much make sure to post similar quotes that I get like that just do raise his ire.

8:26 -- Washburn got out of a base-loaded jam earlier with a key strikeout, but the next inning Adam Lind ripped a fastball over the centerfield fence for a two-run shot.

7:55 -- Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!! Raul just fouls a ball of the inside of his shin. But then he gets up and singles home Cairo a few pitches later. M's up 2-0.

7:50 -- We haven't done this in a while, but everybody --- "PUT ME IN COACH, I'M READY TO PLAY, TODAY!!!!'
That's right, Miguel Cairo comes up with a big double off the wall no less to drive in the first run of the game.

7:10 -- Here's the transcript to my chat from earlier today....

Well, I'm back up at Safeco Field after a two-day break away, although I still watched every inning of the two games on TV, yes, I have a problem.

I think I'll hold off some links, I'm still assembling them so we'll do that in a separate post, or perhaps just update this one.

From Riggleman's pregame meeting with media:

* Lopez is out of the line-up tonight, but it's not a punishment for a bad game last night. Riggleman said they'd already decided that Lopez was going to sit out tonight before last night's game.

"It's not about sitting Lopez down, it's about getting Cairo a game," Riggleman said.

Riggleman wants to keep Cairo playing just enough so that he's not completely rusty coming off the bench. He said he wants to the same for Jamie Burke at some point.

* As of now Sunday's starter will be Ryan Rowland-Smith. The big Aussie threw three good innings last night, and he admitted that he might have hit the wall mentally some. Riggleman didn't guarantee the start, but said that unless something changes he will start on Sunday.

* Miguel Batista appears ready to start pitching again after a sore back shut him down. Riggleman said that Batista will most likely make his first few appearances out of the bullpen.

Some people tried to talk to Miguel about this, but he shrugged them off saying he's not supposed to talk the media, which is untrue according to the MAriners. He's a little miffed about where he was misquoted in a story by all outlets. He really wasn't happy when the media produced the audio recording of it, and it was word-for-word correct.

* Felix Hernandez and JJ Putz both had successful workouts today. Unlike the last time he threw, Felix's sore ankle didn't bother him when he planted on it and he threw for much longer this time. Riggleman didn't rule out a start for Felix before the all-star break. Putz played catch again and did some long tossing.

Here's today's lineups...
Blue Jays
David Eckstein SS
Marco Scutaro 2B
Alex Rios RF
Vernon Wells CF
Matt Stairs DH
Scott Rolen 3B
Rod Barajas C
Lyle OVerbay 1B
Adam Lind LF
--------------
Dustin McGowan P

Mariners
Ichiro RF
Cairo 2B
Ibanez LF
Beltre 3B
Reed CF
Sexson 1B
Clement DH
Johjima C
Betancourt SS
---------------
Washburn P

After taking a week off from the chat, we'll be doing it again today at 1 p.m. Feel free to ask me any questions about the Mariners and anything else that becomes to mind. I will answer the best I can and try to be somewhat entertaining.

You can even submit your question early....

Just click here

Ten games into his managerial career in Seattle, Jim Riggleman has installed a 10-minute series of workouts for the Mariners – infielders, pitchers and outfielders – and on Tuesday someone asked if he’d seen any results.

“Those guys are good fielders, so we might not see any results. We might not see results from batting practice but we still do it every day,” Riggleman said.

That got a laugh, since the most glaring weakness of his team is offense. Just what kind of team did Rigglemen inherit?

“I think what it did last year was its potential,” he said. “Each spot, ,it seems like they all had good offensive years – (Kenji) Johjima .287, Yuniesky Betancourt had 65 RBI or something, (Jose) Lopez had a real good first half, Ichiro 250-some hits, (Raul) Ibanez 100-some RBI.. I would say that is our potential.

“We don’t really have an identity, and that’s OK. We don’t have to be a big-time running team. The running game was so big in the ‘80s and then it kind of slacked off and power was big.

“I think we’re going to go back the other way eventually. I think in the next two years we’re going to see more athletic, running teams,” Riggleman said.

For now, Riggleman will try to build on what the Mariners do well.

“We play pretty good defense. We’re not a great defensive club by any means, but when the ball gets hit, I feel good. I feel like we’re going to make this play. We have a lot of good arms on the infield, and we’ve got Ichiro in right and Willie (Bloomquist) and (Jeremy) Reed in center. Raul just turned 36 but to me he’s running around really good out there. I feel good when the ball’s in play,” Riggleman said.

Still, Riggleman has added drills, working with different groups each day, to keep his players fresh, defensively.

“You want to get a little work in, do it before batting practice – that’s when balls start flying all over the place,” he said.

Bad news about Felix, but I would think caution with the injury is a good thing. The season is lost, there is no reason to aggravate an injury or open him up to another one. He is the franchise.

Obviously, Larry covered the game. I watched the game on TV at the gym. Roy Halladay is fantastic. I think Dave8557 probably teared up watching him pitch. I think one of the other writer called him the anti-Bedard.

Anyway, Sunday's win was the midpoint of this season, and I think it's safe to say that none of us thought the Mariners would be where they are right now - 31-51 and 17 1/2 games out of first - and there's proof. Remember this?

Yeah, I think we were all a little optimistic. But since it's halfway - man, at times the season has taken forever and other times its dragged on impossibly and painfully slow like Friday on the I-5 or a Dane Cook movie - we are basically half way done is all. I think it's time for some midseason awards and predictions for the Mariners and the rest of the baseball.

Mariners
1. Who's been the Mariners' best player this season and why?
2. Who's been the Mariners' worst player this season and why?
3. Who's been their most improved player and why?
4. Who's been the biggest disappointment and why?
5. What was the best moment so far?
6. What was the worst moment so far?
7. What player gets traded and to who?
8. When will Richie Sexson get released?
9. How many games will Kenji Johjima catch after July 1?
10. How many 7 inning starts will Erik Bedard make after July 1?
11. There's 80 games left, what will the Mariners go in those 80 games?
12. How many games out of first in the AL West will the finish?

American League
1. Who is the AL MVP so far?
2. Who is the AL Cy Young winner so far?
3. Who is the AL Rookie of the year so far?
4. Who is the best team in the AL so far?
5. Which team is the biggest disappointment?
6. Which team is the biggest surprise?
7. If you had to pick one team to make the World Series from the AL who is it and why?