Let 'em Run!

Don Wakamatsu has his rabbits at the top of the lineup, Endy Chavez and Franklin Guttierez, and after Chavez singled, he was running when Guttierrez doubled.

Second and third, no one out, Ken Griffey Jr. had a long at-bat - fouling off six pitches - but popped out.

Adrian Beltre flied out, and Chavez scored to put Seattle ahead, 1-0.

It's a half inning into Game 2, but the Mariners haven't trailed, yet.

To the bottom of the first, Erik Bedard has a 1-0 lead.

Let 'em Run, II

Chavez chopped a one-out single over the firsts baseman's head, then stole second base wih Guttierrez up.

With two outs, the Twins walked Junior, and Beltre singled home Chavez.

That's another manufactured run, and Bedard now has a 2-0 lead.

Two outs, who cares?

Fourth inning, two outs, no one on. Wladimir Balentien singles and - after taking one pitch - Yuniesky Betancourt singles to left field.

On the play, Balentien got to third, and the throw from there back to second was late - runners at second and third base for Chavez.

Chavez grounded a single into right field, his third hit of the game, and both runners scored. The Mariners are now up 4-0, with Bedard having allowed one hit, and infield single.

The lefty looks good

A word about Mr. Bedard - wow.

Through four innings, he's thrown 53 pitches and shut out the Twins. He just pitched out of trouble in the fourth inning, striking out Delmon Young with runners at second and third base.

Bedard, who has said this is one of his least favorite parks in which to pitch, has been in full command tonight. He's struck out five, walked none.

The Twins come back - with a bit of help.

Bedard got himself in trouble in the fifth, but with one run in, two men on and two outs, he came ever so close to getting out of it.

On a two-strike pitch, Bedard threw a fastball that froze Michael Cuddyer, hit Kenji Johjima's glove and appeared to be a third strike.

Umpire Chuck Meriwether hesitated, then called the pitch a ball.

Two pitches later, Cuddyer singled home two runs.

Such is life in baseball. Pitchers have to deal with hitters, their own teammates on defense and, yes, umpires.
To the sixth: Mariners 4, Twins 3.

It's up to the bullpen

After five innings and 85 pitches, Bedard departed and right-hander Roy Corcoran replaced him.

Corcoran threw a six-pitch sixth inning, and worked the seventh with right-hander David Aardsma warming up behind him.

Six more outs, the Mariners would start their season 2-0 on the road against a very good Twins team.

But if the last three outs of a game are the toughest to get, the last six - with a one-run margin - is one long stretch to survive.

After seven: Seattle 4, Minnesota 3

Morrow is up

Brandon Morrow was warming in Game 1 when the Mariners broke the game open, so Miguel Batista finished, instead.

Tonight, Bedard, Corcoran and Aardsma have gotten through eight innings with a one-run lead.

Morrow is warming up.

Balentien singled, and with two outs was on second base. Guttierrrez singled him home to pad that lead. Griffey flied out.

Morrow is coming in.

Seattle 5, Minnesota 3.
The 27th Out

Morrow got the first two batters, walked the next three. With a two-run lead, Batista was brought in to end it.

He didn't.

An infield single made it 5-4.

A two-run single by Alexi Casilla won it, 6-5.

General manager Jack Zduriencik is stockpiling arms like a man putting up wood for the winter – and the Seattle Mariners are hoping one or two of them wind up on the roster.

After snaring injured pitchers like closer Chad Cordero and left-handed specialist Tyler Johnson, Zduriencik on Tuesday reached into the past and signed one-time closer Jeff Zimmerman to a minor league contract.

“We might have the best extended spring training staff ever assembled,” Zduriencik joked.

In Zimmerman, the Mariners are taking a look at a 36-year-old right-hander who hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since 2001, when he saved 28 games for Texas. The next spring, Zimmerman was hurt – and since then has undergone two ‘Tommy John’ surgeries to reconstruct his right elbow.

“He was working out for a few teams and (director of professional scouting) Carmen Fusco saw him and was very impressed,” Zduriencik said. “We all watched him a little later – my staff and I, Don Wakamatsu and his staff – and he threw very well. The ball came out of his well, his arm was strong, we just said ‘wow’ to each other.

“Jeff was touching 90 mph, and he’d only been throwing again for two weeks. He had a history with (bullpen coach) John Wetteland and the desire to play here. So we signed him and sent him to Arizona.”

What’s the plan for Zimmerman?

“He’s going to go on a program that will get him ready to pitch for us this year,” Zduriencik said. “No promises were made, but this pitcher was really good at one time. We’ll see what we have.

“Our doctor was surprised at what he saw during the physical – I think he expected more problems. He passed his physical. For the next month or so, Zimmerman will be on his own schedule rather than join a team.”

In a game that demands more pitching depth than any team seems to have, Zduriencik has spent all spring grabbing arms, most of whom are in the minor leagues at the moment – Jesus Delgado, Luis Munoz, Luis Pena, Cordero, Johnson and now Zimmerman have all been signed since February.

“If one or two of these guys work out, you’ve greatly improved your pitching depth,” Zduriencik said. “In guys like Johnson and Cordero and Zimmerman, you’ve got experienced late-inning guys. In the others, you have power arms. We’ll see how it works out, but the goal from Day One here was to improve this team, and we continue trying to do that.”

When Don Wakamatsu opened spring training with the stated purpose of helping every play in camp improve his game, it was a lovely philosophy.

Did it happen?

Probably not - but not for lack of effort with the Seattle coaching staff. They worked one-on-one with each of he 60-plus players who came to camp, a remarkable effort.
Some players didn't improve. They may never improve. Sadly, that's part of baseball, too.

Now that the season has started, that coaching effort hasn't ended.

Matt Tuiasosopo, for instance, is with the team until Ichiro Suzuki returns. A third baseman, he has worked out with coaches the past few days at first, second and third base.
Today, after early batting practice, Tuiasosopo trotted out to left field, and coach Lee Tinsley hit him fly balls - and talked to him about his actions - for about 15 minutes.

Tuiasosopo may not start a game while he's here, and may be limited to pinch-running or playing in a blowout.

Still, this coaching staff is working with him with an eye toward the future. If Tuiasosopo can play three or four positions, his route to the majors might become shorter, and his value to the Marines would increase.

Wakamatsu's edict - to help every player reach their potential - didn't end with spring training.

This staff is still working, often one-on-one, with the players on the roster. It's fascinating to watch. And down the line, it might make this a better franchise.

Wow, that seemed relatively easy. Get good pitching, pick up a few timely hits, move runners along and make the play defensively. Not rocket science but harder than you think.

Lash had the duties in Minnesota. Here's his game story.

Here's a notebook leading with Mike Sweeney being with a team on opening day for a 13th season when there was some doubt whether he would make it.

Lash also had a story talking with the nervous energy of opening day.

Our photo staff put together this photo gallery from yesterday's game

Here's the AP story from the game.

You can see a replay of Griffey's home run HERE.

From the Minnesota papers ...

The Star Tribune had this game story and this story as well

From the St. Paul Pioneer Press, there is this game story. The Press also had this story discussing what it would have been like if the Twins were playing their new open air stadium on Opening day.

Around the AL West ...
ESPN's Jim Caple had this Q&A with Jason Giambi

The Rangers roughed up last year's Cy Young winner Cliff Lee. Kevin Millwood looked good yesterday, we'll see if it continues.

Kelvim Escobar could be back in the Angels rotation by the end of April. John Lackey's contract re-negotiations have stopped for the time being.

The revamped A's offense didn't do much against Joe Saunders and the Angels. Bill Dwyre's writes about the model of efficiency that is the Angels.

AP Photos