Greetings from Denver. I'm down here spending some time with family, but I also did a little work sneaking down to Coors Field to see the Rockies play the Philadelphia Phillies and talk to Raul Ibanez.

But besides Ibanez, you'll notice in the photo above that Miguel Cairo is also with the Phillies this year along with coach Sam Perlozzo, and of course GM Pat Gillick - a former Mariner himself - had already traded for Jamie Moyer and signed Greg Dobbs.

The game was pretty good. Phillies starter Brett Myers got knocked around early, but he stayed in the game and the Phillies rallied to get him the win. Raul aided that rally, absolutely crushing a homer to right. See the highlight here.

As usual, Raul was doing extra hitting and obsessive preparation before the game. Our conversation was only supposed to be five minutes, but it turned into close to 30. Most of it was about the change in atmospheres. He was careful not to get into talk about last year's clubhouse, other than in generalities. But he admitted that seeing the Phillies get their World Series was something that made him a little jealous.

He also talked about being on a team filled with "superstars" like Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins and Cole Hamels, and being impressed with their level of commitment to preparation for each game.

But a good portion of our conversation was spent talking about his own preparation during the season and in the offseason. It's something that Raul is very passionate about.

"If I didn't do all these things, there is no way I'd be standing in this clubhouse right now," he said.

He called it an "addiction" and a "compulsion" and admitted that his wife called it "pyscho."

Cairo, who I teased often on here, was genial and asked how the Mariners looked at spring training. We talked about last seasons expectations and how it made the team tight. We both pointed to the sweep by the Orioles in the first road trip of the season that made some players start to panic unnecessarily. But as he pointed out, when you see upper level people in the organization panicking, it carries over to the players.

We also chatted a little about the development of Jose Lopez and Yuni Betancourt and he admitted that he was a little surprised that the Mariners seemed to be so cautious when it came to the handling of those players, mentioning that Lopez and Betancourt seemed to do what they wanted at times without much repercussion.

But he didn't discount either players' talent. Saying that both players are on the cusp of being really good.

Also talked with Dobbs, who admitted that he's still living in whirlwind, going from being on the shuttle between Seattle and Tacoma to getting a World Series ring.

Anyway, that's about it from Denver. I'll leave you with a picture of Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, who the Mariners passed up on for Jeff Clement. In hindsight, it's not looking like a great move. Clement is still struggling in Tacoma, and has just one hit in the first four games. But I think he'll start hitting again.

Until Ichiro returns from the disabled list on Wednesday, Endy Chavez is the Mariners leadoff hitter - and a good one, at that.
has a six-game hitting streak. The last Mariner to start a season with a six-game hitting streak was ...

...Ichiro, in 2005. He got it to seven.

And we're off: Erik Bedard vs. Trevor Cahill.

Mr. Bedard is working

Through two innings, Bedard has faced and set down six Athletics in a row, three by strike out.

The Mariners, by contrast, have three walks and one hit-by-pitch (Russell Branyan) but not hits.

That Mariners offense
Six innings in, and - did we mention? - the Mariners don't have a hit against youngster Trevor Cahill.

The scouting report on Cahill was that he has a great slider but issues throwing strikes. So far, no issues. And no hits.

Bedard, meanwhile, has allowed a couple of hits but no runs, pitching beautifully.

After six: No score.

The offense lives
Adrian Beltre singled one out into the seventh to break up the no-hitter, and Mike Sweeney doubled with two outs to score Beltre.

Nine outs for another win, and Bedard is on the mound, with 78 pitches thrown.
Mariners 1, Athletics 0

Bedard for the win...

Bottom nine, last chance for Oakland.

Mariners have made defensive changes: Cedeno from shortstop to left field, Chaverz from left to right field and Yuniesky Betancourt the shortstop.

Bedard's first pitch of the ninth was his 99th, and in the bulllpen, David Aardsma is warming.

Ryan Sweeney singled. Orlando Cabrera sacrificed Sweeney to second base, which brought Don Wakamatsu out - and Aardsma in. Bedard cannot pitch much better.

Aardsma vs. Jason Giambi? Strike out.

Aardsma vs. Matt Holiday? Four-pitch walk.

Aardsma vs. Jack Cust? Line out to left.

Mariners win, 1-0.

It’s Easter Sunday, and the Seattle Mariners are in first place.

No, it doesn’t particularly mean much, but it’s something they couldn’t say on any day of the 2008 season. And perhaps the most surprising aspect of it is how they got there, one week into the new year.

The bullpen has two wins, the rotation two.

Jose Lopez leads the team with six RBI, and Russell Branyan has two home runs, and while those are solid enough numbers, they don’t tell the story of a week in which the Mariners did things they simply couldn’t a year ago.

These Mariners have twice come back from deficits to win – not first inning deficits, but late-in-the game comebacks. They manufacture runs with bunts and ground balls – players giving themselves up to advance runners, to score runners.

The atmosphere is different, the attitude altered. They believe they can win games doing what they’re doing, and think they’ll surprise anyone who underestimates them.

“The kind of baseball we’re playing wins games against anyone,” Felix Hernandez said. “It’s just good, exciting baseball.”

Even if it were just for a week, that would be improvement.

But consider the American League West for a moment. On Saturday, Oakland couldn’t use Eric Chavez – not even as a late defensive replacement – because his shoulder is a mess. Across the diamond, first baseman Jason Giambi asked out late in the game because he said his legs were gone.

Want to trade Seattle’s immediate future or Oakland’s?

One week into the season, the Texas Rangers have a 6.49 earned run average. Seattle’s is 3.42. Want to trade pitching staffs?

And in Anaheim, the Angels have most of their rotation on the disabled and suffered a loss in the first week that went far beyond scores and standings. They remain, even in mourning, the best team in the West.

Except at the moment.

The Mariners are not the team they’ll be in a year, when players like Miguel Batista, Jarrod Washburn, Adrian Beltre, Eric Bedard – and their salaries – will be gone.

They aren’t the team they may become this season, when pitchers like Chad Cordero or Tyler Johnson come off the disabled list.

Or when Ichiro Suzuki returns.

What they are, at this moment, is a team that believes it can win. Yes, that faith may be fragile, and reality may overwhelm it – but the job Don Wakamatsu and his coaching staff has done this spring, and this week, has transformed the Mariners.

One week in, that’s encouraging.