It's Coming, It's Coming, It's Here ...
Twenty minutes before game time, with not a drop of rain in sight, Cleveland's grounds crew threw a tarp on the field and announced a rain delay.
And just when they said it would hit - about 7 p.m. (EDT) - the skies opened and rain pounded the field.
If you're wondering, they say the rain shall pass and the lads shall play.
When? The grounds crew says 8 p.m. (EDT).

That's Just Mean ...
Fans here tonight are getting a bobble head of former Mariners infield prospect Asdrubal Cabrera - now an Indians infielder.
Cabrera was traded to Cleveland in 2006 for Eduardo Perez, who's now retired.
What's tomorrow's giveaway - a Shin-Soo Chin bobble head?

Forty Is The New 80 ...
John McLaren said he wanted Ichiro to steal 80 bases this season, but that's not going to happen.
After he singled to lead off the game, Ichiro took second on a ground ball, then stole third - his 40th steal of the season. It's his third career 40-or-more steal season.
Raul Ibanez singled Ichiro home, picking up his 90th RBI.
Felix has a lead before he throws a pitch.
Mariners 1, Indians 0 ...

Bless Thy Sinker ...
Through two innings, Mr. Hernandez has allowed three singles and a walk, and needed ground ball doubler plays to end each threat.
The bad news? He's fallen behind hitters and given up those hits and the wal, signs he's not particularly sharp yet.
The good news is Felix's sinker is getting him out of trouble. It's a pitch that's working tonight, and if the others kick in he might cruise.
If they don't, he made need a double play per inning all night.
Mariners 1, Indians 0 ...

How Many U's In Rauuuuul? ...
It only SEEMS like Raul Ibanez drives in all the runs Seattle scores these days.
In thre thirdc inning, after a Yuniesky Betancourt single, Ibanez hit his club-leading 22nd home run - his seventh this month.
That gave the Mariners a 3-0 lead, and Hernandez immediately allowed a single and a double to the first two Indians to bat in the bottom half of the inning.
He may find himself tonight, but he hasn't yet.
Mariners 3, Indians 1 ...

It Just Looks Easy ...
There hasn't been an easy inning or a pitch without stress tonight for Hernandez, who has been in constant trouble yet still has the lead.
Four innings, 63 pitches. His fastball has topped out at 98 mph, and he's struck out four Indians.
He's also gotten a break - Choo was caught trying to steal third base with one out.
Mariners 3, Indians 2 ...

No Complete Game - Again ...
Felix got through the sixth inning, getting the 18th out of the night with his 114th pitch.
That's likely going to be it for the evening.
What the Mariners and other teams have found is that effectiveness tends to depart for pitchers at a certain point, and whether it's 100 pitches or 115, managers see no reason to prove it by watching good starts blow up in the later innings.
As of now, Hernandez leads the team in starts (26), innings (168), strike outs (154) and wins - eight and holding.
Look to the Seattle bullpen to protect a one-run lead the last three innings.
Yes, you have every right to be nervous. You can wager that Felix is.
Mariners 3, Indians 2 ...

To The Ninth ...
Roy Corcoran, he of ordinary talent and extraordinary heart, just put the Indians down two innings in a row.
The eighth ended with men at first and third and - warming in the Seattle bullpen, Randy Messenger.
If THAT didn't have Felix nervous, he was in a coma.
Can the Mariners win a second 3-2 victory in the span of three games?
Can J.J. Putz close? Will Messenger?
Tune in, folks. It's always something.
Mariners 3, Indians 2 ....

J.J. Time ...
One run lead, three outs needed, and the Mariners go to Mr. Putz - who's looking for his 10th save.
Forty saves last year, nine so far in '08? Humbling times for most Mariners, including J.J., who's lost so much time this season to injury.
Putz struck out Kelly Shoppach.
Outfielder Ben Francisco pinch-hit and struck out.
Grady Sizemore - he of the 31 home runs - grounded out.
It's Final:
Mariners 3, Indians 2.

My fine Mariners' fans and readers, I offer up some form of apologies for the lack of posting on the blog here, particularly in my part. With the season winding down, and my transition to my offseason work, I got a little sidetracked. But I also need to be a little more vigilant about at least getting some links to you and offering some analysis or just posting anything.

Anyway, after finishing up some WSU stuff, I snuck over the Rainiers game last night and watched the last seven innings. It was a mildly entertaining game. Matt Tuiasosopo had a big game, hitting a three-run homer and also a monster double off the centerfield wall at Cheney. Here' s Grant Clark's game story from today's paper. GM Lee Pelekoudas along with Minor league director Greg Hunter and Mariners Assistant Director of International Operations Hide Sueyoshi were there watching.

I made a quick stop in the clubhouse after the game. Had to check in with my fellow Montana native Rob Johnson, who also had a big two-run single, last night. I asked him if he thought he would get called up in September. He admitted to not being certain.

That got me thinking, who are the Mariners going to call up? Obviously, Brandon Morrow and Mark Lowe will get call ups. That's a given. But who else? Any player on the 40-man roster is eligible. Perhaps reliever Jared Wells, who was already up this season. Johnson? He got a call-up last season.

"Lee [Pelekoudas] and I have talked about it, and we have a pretty good idea. We're not ready to talk about who they are yet, because we want to let the players know before that," manager Jim Riggleman said the other day.

"But it's safe to say, as all clubs do, we'll add a couple arms just to make sure that that throughout September, guys like Green and Corcoran aren't getting overused."

I'm still waiting for an updated 40-man roster from the Ms to make any more guesses. But the last roster I looked at, players like Michael Saunders, Victor Diaz or Greg Halman.

One of the reasons there isn't too much speculation is that most of the players that would have been September call-ups have already been called up.

Anyway, let's get to some more links ...
Here's Larry's off-day story on Jose Castro and his path to his current job as Ms hitting coach.

Our intern Stephen Chen left us, but not empty handed with this feature on infielder Luis Valbuena.

Here's something to make you nauseous. ESPN's Keith Law sent and scouted a Chris Tillman game and offered this report.

I found this part interesting...

Orioles pitching prospect Chris Tillman started last night for AA Bowie at Reading and easily outpitched his somewhat more highly-paid opponent, Adam Eaton. (Carl Pavano made a rehab start at Reading earlier in the week, which made me wonder, if Pavano faced Eaton would it be the most expensive Eastern League game ever player?).

Tillman started out throwing 87-88 mph, but then gradually increased his velo to the low 90s, topping out at 93. The right-hander has good life with tailing action on his fastball, and sinks it at 87-88. At 92-93, it flattens out but still has the same tailing action. His best pitch is his curveball, a very sharp breaking ball with some two-plane break and great depth. It moves quickly with tight rotation and looks a lot harder than its 74-77 mph velocity. He throws a changeup with good tumbling action, but he doesn't use it often or show much feel for it yet.

Aside from a hook at the start of his delivery, he's pretty clean overall, staying over the rubber well and then driving forward with a long stride, taking advantage of his long legs. He gets good downhill plane on almost everything he throws and keeps his head steady through the delivery.

Where Tillman fell short of absolute top-prospect status was in his command. He looks the part, with his clean delivery, but he doesn't locate his fastball welll, not even to a general part of the zone. He misses bats because his curveball is just toxic and because his fastball gets in on hitters quickly, but he needs to be more precise with the latter pitch to succeed in the big leagues.

MARINERS51 mentioned it for DAVE8557, but here it is the two part series from the SF Chronicle on the lost art of the complete game. Enjoy.

Part one : titled "DOWN FOR THE COUNT
Sadly, the art of the complete game has been lost: and Part Two: Let them learn to pitch and finish.

SI's Jon Heyman writes "Why the Yankees are done"

Really, I love it that they are done. And yes, if you know me a little, I was enjoying the fact that A-Rod was getting booed mercilessly at Yankee Stadium.

Also Mill Creek's Travis Snider has been called up by the Blue Jays.

That was because Matt Stairs was traded to the Phillies.

FOXsports Ken Rosenthal writes about the massive general manager turnover this offseason.

Some of you might not be following the drama with Pirates first-round draft pick Pedro Alvarez. But it's just another example of Scott Boras being the harbinger of evil and the man who will single-handedly destroy baseball some day.

Here's Gene Collier's column about the situation.

Finally a moment of silence, or is it a moment of celebration for .... JAY MARIOTTI.

Nice Mullet

He resigned as a columnist from the Chicago Sun Times saying that the Internet is the wave of the future. If we can only get him to retire from Around the Horn, or life in the media in general. The world would be a better place.

Mariotti, who was known never to venture into a clubhouse, had a particularly interesting feud with the White Sox. The players were ecstatic to hear of his resignation. Besides having a long standing feud with Ozzie Guillen, Mariotti also had some interesting and revolving opinions on the White Sox, check out this guy, who kept track.

His own editor wasn't exactly sad to see him go. Former co-workers didn't have much good to say. Roger Ebert offered this. Definitely a thumbs down for Jay. And longtime rival, but coworker, Rick Telander also didn't have much good to say.

There's an air show scheduled here this weekend, and planes and jets are making loud practice runs over the city.

Just like in the early '90s, when the Mariners and Indians squared off in the old stadium beneath another air show.

About the second inning, Randy Johnson was on the mound - all 6-foot-10 of him - when a jet streaked overhead.

The Big Unit ducked.

He lost that day, and every time a jet roared by, the same thing happened - Johnson would duck.

Afterward, he joked that the Indians had timed it so jets only went by when he was on the mound.

Those were the early years with Randy, when he was not quite as oood but far more personable than he would be later in his career.