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.