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)