Get the King untracked ...
Felix Hernandez won his seventh game of the season July 18 and hasn't won since, going 0-1 with a pair of no-dedisions.
Going back to June 17, Hernandez is 2-2 with three no-decisions.
He hasn't allowed more than three earned runs in any of those starts, so a few more runs by the Seattle offense will likely give the team its first 8-game winner of the year.
Oh boy ...

The Boy & The Bubble ...
The Mariners bullpen was having a little fun in the first inning - someone stuck an immense bubble, and the gum it was blown in - atop the hat of rookie Jared Wells.
As bullpen coach Norm Charlton lectured Wells, J.J. Putz tried to add a paper cup to the bubble, but Wells caught on.
He's now sitting cautiously in the pen, perhaps a litle less trusting that 20 minutes earlier.
A lesson learned ...

Another (Yawn) Hitting Streak ...
Ichiro Suzuki is at it again, and his first inning single gave him a 13-game hitting streak during which he's batting .396.
Any significance?
Well, since Ichiro came into the majors in 2001, he's strung together 28 hitting streaks of 10 games or more. That leads all of baseball.
Miguel Tejada is second (25), followed by Derk Jeter (22).
The man can hit ...

Out of Control ...
If teams only scored when they put the ball in play, Tampa would be sitting on zero.
Young Felix, however, helped them in the fourth inning with two walks and a wild pitch that pushed home the games only run.
Throw strikes.
Rays 1, Mariners 0 ...

Into New Territory ...
Hernandez is pitching a marvelous game, but that one inning may beat him because Andy Sonnanstine is pitching 43even better.
Hernandez has had some tough luck this season, but he's never lost when allowing just one run.
Through seven innings, however, Seattle has three hits - two by Jose Lopez.
Rays 1, Mariners 0 ...

Oh, Those Babies ...
That thud you may have heard a moment ago was Wladimir Balentien's double banging off the wall in right center field - about a foot from going over.
Fellow rookie Bryan LaHair singled him to third, and Yuniesky Betancourt got Balentien home with a sacrifice fly.
Some of these kids can play.
Mariners 1, Rays 1 ...

To the ninth ...
J.J. Putz in, Felix out after quite a night.
He went eight innings, allowed four hits and a run.
His earned run average dropped from 3.04 to 2.94, but he got another no-decision. Without the wild pitch, he'd be winning, 1-0.
And the Mariners still don't have an 8-game winner.
Meanwhile, Putz is in trouble - first and third, one out. ...

Nothing But Smoke & Mirrors ...
J.J. Putz looked like his '07 self in getting out of trouble in the ninth. With runners at first and third base and one out, he struck out Cliff Floyd and Dioner Navarro.
He got Floyd on a 98 mph fastball, then Navarro on a pitch that broke away from him at 88 mph.
To the bottom of the ninth, tied. ...

Raul - Again ...
The hottest Mariner delivered the fourth walk-off home run of his career to lead off the ninh inning, and it was good for his 16th RBI in his last five games.
Putz gets the win, and under Riggleman this team is now 20-23. ...

Yes, it's THE Erik Bedard playing catch with Jim Riggleman watching.

"He’s throwing freely," Mariners manager Jim Riggleman said. "The ball looks good out of hand. It’s a big change from 10 days when I saw him first throw. He threw 50 times. He will throw again Saturday and Sunday."

Excuse Tampa's staff for wondering just who is starting against them Saturday in Safeco Field - the Seattle Mariners are listing that game starter as TBA.

That's code, of course, for NOT Miguel Batista.

It's Batista's spot in the rotation, but it now belongs to someone in Tacoma, lefty Ryan Rowland-Smith. Formally, the Mariners can't list him yet because he's not on the 25-man roster.

Whether Rowland-Smith gets the rest of Batista's starts or not is a thornier question. Clearly, Rowland-Smith looks to be a bigger part of Seattle's future than Batista, who has a year left on his contract.
In the past, however, the Mariners have started pitchers just to showcase them in hopes that a few good games will make a trade easier.

Batista can and will pitch out of the bullpen. Rowland-Smith will be given the chance to fail or succeed for at least 3-4 starts, and by then there will be other options.

The team isn't likely to start Rowland-Smith, Brandon Morrow and, say, Ryan Feierabend in any one stretch, but Seattle wants to see something from each.

For now, it's Rowland-Smith.

By September, the rotation could be unrecognizeable.