A quick note on these postgame updates: Because of the earliness of our deadlines for the print edition, I'm going to try and provide these because we get some interesting stuff after the game that I can't fit in my game stories. So I'm going to offer it up here on most games I cover -- that and I don't sleep much.

Here's the boxscore ...

First two things about the game ... Manager Don Wakamatsu pointed to two key turning points in the game ... Wlad Balentien striking out with the bases loaded in the fourth and Roy Corocoran's 0-2 pitch with two outs to Nike Napoli that resulted in a two-run single. The pitch was a fastball that just stayed out over the middle. On 0-2, that ball can't be anywhere near the middle of the plate, which Corcoran would be the first to say, just bad execution.

"Anywhere but up," he told the Everett Herald. "That's just putting it on a tee for him."

Balentien's strikeout was really costly because it looked like Joe Saunders was finally out of his rhythm. He hit Russell Branyan with a pitch to load the bases and was and threw three straight balls after going up 0-2. But if you look at the pitch sequence from MLB.com, Saunders knew what he was doing, he kept going away, away, knowing that:
1. Wlad doesn't like to swing at that pitch.
2. Wlad isn't going to hit that pitch hard.
3. Wlad is still undisciplined enough to hack at it, which he did.

On 3-2, Saunders pitch was out of the zone, not as bad as a few of the pitches Wlad layed off of, but just out enough for him to not to be able to foul off. Saunders knows Balentien isn't the type of hitter to lay off that pitch yet. And until he does figure it out, Wlad's never going to see the playing time he wants - for any team in baseball. Just look at the pitch sequence from mlb.com. Saunders made it clear where he was going to pitch Balentien in that at-bat. And Wlad simply didn't make the adjustment.

Let's move on to the bit of a baseball history that we got to witness tonight at Safeco Field.

In the fourth inning, Ichiro slapped a hard ground ball through the right side off of Angels starter Joe Saunders. It's a hit we've seen from him hundreds of times. And it was career hit 3,086, moving him past Isao Harimoto, who held the Japanese baseball record 3,085 career hits.

Ichiro was very philosophical when he met with the local English-speaking media.

"Mr. Harimoto in 1995, 14 years ago, told me 'the only guy who could beat my record is you.'" Ichiro said through translator Ken Baron. "Looking back on that now, for him to be able to say that to a player who only had one year under his belt, I am amazed Mr. Harimoto would have that vision."

When asked what was going through his mind when Harimoto told him that at the time, Ichiro responded: "I thought, 'what is this crazy man saying?'"

On what it meant for him to have Harimoto to be in attendance?

"Mr. Harimoto's plan was to go home tomorrow, so if I didn't get the record today, I was worried about what he had to do with his plane ticket, so I had that kind of pressure as well."

Ichiro was supposed to speak with Harimoto at some point after meeting with the media, and when asked what he would say, he responded: "He traveled all the way here from Japan, which is a long distance, so I want to express my thankfulness to him."

Ichiro's never been big on records, and I think the whole chase of this record and the onslaught of Japanese media - which still pales in comparison to the WBC - was a distraction to him and disrupted his obsessive routine. But you could also tell it was something he wanted. No matter what he has said in the past about records in the past, this is an accomplishment that he's proud of.

Let's talk about Chris Jakubauskas' effort against the Angels.

His numbers: 5.1 innings pitched, 5 hits, 2 runs, 3 strikeouts and 0 walks. He was on an 80 pitch limit and ended up throwing 81 with 60 of them strikes. At one point, he'd thrown 35 pitches and 29 were strikes.

"We saw what we saw in spring training," Manager Don Wakamatsu said. "His poise, the quality of his pitches. I think he tired real quick for lack of being stretched out. What impressed me so much was how efficient he was with his pitches and how aggressive he was."

Jakubauskas' game plan was pretty simple.

"They are pretty patient team, but if your around the plate a lot they tend to get aggressive," he said. "Tonight they weren’t really hacking so I was trying to throw ball down the middle first pitch and if they started to hack I was going to make an adjustment."

Jakubauskas knew he was on a pitch count but that didn't make coming out of the game any easier.

"As a starter you never want to come out, especially when it's your guys out there (on base), Jakubauskas said. "But they had set the number and I hit the number and you gotta do what your manager tells you to do. I have all the faith in the world in the guys behind me and unfortunately we let it get away from us tonight, we’ll pick it up again tomorrow."

Much has been made about Jakubauskas winding road to the Mariners, his failure as a college first baseman because of a lost swing, his transition to pitcher in four seasons of the independent leagues, working odd jobs like concrete surfacing and giving baseball lessons in the offseasons of those years to starting against the Los Angeles Angels - the team he grew up rooting for in Upland, California.

"I’m sure when I go home tonight and sit down tonight and think back on it, it will hit me," he said. "It seems like a long time ago."

When asked if he had any advice for some of those guys toiling in the independent leagues desperately clinging to the last seams of a baseball dreams, Jakubauskas said: "Just keep throwing. Weird things happen. One of my buddies told me, 'if someone wants to give you a uniform, wear it, because one day's no one's going to want to give you one, and you'll be stuck."

Photos courtesy of Getty and AP

Some other tidbits from the Mariners below

=> Read more!

I'll give you one guess who these people are. Can't imagine there has been a run on Jakubauskas jerseys by people not named Jakubauskas.

The reason Vlad Guerrero is out of the lineup is that he suffered a strained right pectoral muscle and is headed back to Los Angeles to be examined by Dr. Lewis Yocum on Friday. Line-ups at the bottom of the post.

UPDATES START HERE:
Top of 1st
A solid start for Jak - that's what were calling him because I refuse to a 12 letter name over and over, same with Wak and Z. Jak gives up a two-strike hit to Chone Figgins, but gets a double play ball from Howie Kendrick. Unfortunately the double play twins can't turn it and get just the lead run. But Jak comes back and strikes out Bobby Abreu looking with a fastball on the outside corner and then throws a nice elevated 92 mph fastball to get Torii Hunter swinging. The Jak family below me was quite excited.

Bottom of 1st
Joe Saunders works a 1-2-3 inning. Mike Sweeney hit a ball mildly hard, but the linedrive was caught by Maicier Izturis at shortstop.

Top of 2nd
Jak looking strong, he works a perfect inning, striking out Gary Matthews Jr. on a high fastball to end the inning.

Bottom of 2nd
Not much going on for the Mariners either. Saunders looks strong.

Top of 3
Jak has thrown 31 pitches only eight of them were balls. Not bad, another 1-2-3 inning.

Bottom of 3
The Mariners are 4-0 against lefty starters this year -- of course those lefties were Francisco Liriano, Glen Perkins, Josh Outman and Brett Anderson. Joe Saunders is a little better than three of those guys -- and the Mariners go down 1-2-3.

Top of 4th
Jak gets a tough break as Rob Johnson's tough attempt at catching a pop foul over the railing of the camera pit at Safeco hits his glove and bounces out, and like how it always works, Torii Hunter takes advantage of the new life and rips a double to left-center. But Jak kept his composure and got Kendry Morales to ground out to end the inning. Jak is at 55 pitches with 43 of them for strikes. He may get another inning or two.

Bottom of 4th
Congratulations to Ichiro becoming Japan's all-time hits leader. His hard ground ball through the right side gave him 3,086 career hits, surpassing the mark of 3,085 set by Isao Harimoto. The small but boisterous Safeco crowd gave him a standing ovation and the shy superstar took off his helmet and acknowledged the applause.

But the M's used the record hit to get an early 1-0 lead as they moved him around and got him in on Adrian Beltre's grounder to short. The whole situation seemed to fluster Saunders for a moment as he loaded the bases, but he struck out Wlad Balentien to end the inning.

Top of 5
Jak rolls again, gives up one hit, but that's about hit.

Bottom of 5
Saunders has refound his rhythm. M's down 1-2-3

Top of 6
Jak gets a standing ovation, leaving after giving up a pair of hits. But the bullpen can't get it done. Roy Corcoran implodes giving up four runs - two of them charged to Jak - and receiving some boos as he replaced by Mark Lowe. And it doesn't end there as Lowe give up a run-scoring single. The damage is five runs five runs on five hits -- Angels 5, Marines 1

Here's the lineup
Mariners
Ichiro RF
Chavez CF
Sweeney DH
Adrian Beltre 3B
Jose Lopez 2B
Russell Branyan 1B
Wlad Balentien LF
Rob Johnson C
Yuni Betancourt SS
--------
Chris Jakubauskas RHP

Angels
Chone Figgins 3B
Howie Kendrick LF
Bobby Abreu RF (I left him out as Snydro pointed out)
Torii Hunter CF
Kendry Morales 1B
Mike Napoli C
Gary Matthews RF
Juan Rivera DH
Maicer Izturis SS
-----
Joe Saunders (1-1, 2.63)

The sunny day has grown overcast and the Mariners are taking BP, so lets get to it.

A few notes ...
* Chris Jakubauskas will be on a pitch count of around 70 to 80 pitches. But as I've come to realize with ultra-prepared Wakamatsu, having Jakubauskas start isn't something he was forced to do out of inconvenience.

"He was a guy that we planned and put this bullpen together so if something like this happened, he'd be the go to guy because he pitched so well in spring training," Manager Don Wakamatsu said.

* Jarrod Washburn is not here today. He was suffering from the flu yesterday and today and Wak told him to stay home.

* The lineup has a different look with Franklin Gutierrez, Junior and all getting the day off. Lots of righthanders as the M's face lefty Joe Saunders

Here's the lineup
Ichiro RF
Chavez CF
Sweeney DH
Adrian Beltre 3B
Jose Lopez 2B
Russell Branyan 1B
Wlad Balentien LF
Rob Johnson C
Yuni Betancourt SS
--------
Chris Jakubauskas RHP

Angels
Chone Figgins 3B
Howie Kendrick LF
Bobby Abreu RF (I left him out as Snydro pointed out)
Torii Hunter CF
Kendry Morales 1B
Mike Napoli C
Gary Matthews RF
Juan Rivera DH
Maicer Izturis SS
-----
Joe Saunders (1-1, 2.63)

"We're just getting Gutierrez a day off just because he’s been going so hard and just making sure that guys are playing, getting Balentien in there and Sweeney against Saunders," Wakamatsu said.

Wlad Balentien said his sore left elbow if perfectly fine now.

* Kenji Johjima could be out as much as three weeks. It's a grade 1 sprain which is the mildest of the 1-3 grading scale.

"I felt discomfort the inning before that at-bat when I was covering first base and I felt it again when I was ruining to first base," Johjima said through translator Antony Suzuki. "I felt like a pinch down on my hamstring. I’ve never felt anything like that in the past in my career."

Joh was in relatively good spirits despite the news, joking with media a few times.

"We have to alternate," he said when asked about Ichiro then him going on the DL. "We have Japanese media here so if we go on the DL together at the same time, we’ll lose all the media, so I don’t want to start that."

"They say that a lot of the fast runners get this type of injury and I’ve never been a fast runner so I don’t know why I’m getting this. I guess it’s part of the game."

When asked about Ichiro, Daisuke Matsuzaka and now him -- all members of the Japanese WBC team going on the DL, he responded: "Yes, it’s a coincidence. Unfortunately, it’s a coincidence."

Then he was asked about other Japanese professional players in Japan being hurt. He said there were a few, but "also a coincidence." I asked a few Japanese reporters and they said there were three guys on the DL.

Wakamatsu wanted no part of that conversation when asked.

* Jamie Burke was in good spirits being back in the clubhouse.

Wakamatsu said Rob Johnson will be the starter and Burke the back-up.

"I’ve known Jamie from three different organizations and I trust his ability to call a game and his relationship with the pitching staff," Wakamatsu said. "He’s a good fit to bring up. He was in competition all spring to make the club and it’s nice to bring up somebody who I know personally and trust."

I asked him if Jeff Clement's low numbers and hitting struggles had anything to do with it.

"It’s just the timing of everything," Wakamatsu said. "We talked about Jeff going down and getting some at-bats and catching a little bit more. With Kenji, we’re looking at a couple of weeks here and Jamie is the perfect guy to bring up."

Still, if Clement was hitting .370 with a few homers and extra base hits, their decision might be different.

* As I said about Wak and his obsessive nature to be prepared, he mentioned that one of the reasons they kept Johnson and not Burke or Clement was precisely for this reason.

"One of our biggest decisions coming out of spring training was the fact that if that happened, we would feel comfortable with Rob filling in," Wakamatsu said. "So far, he’s done a tremendous job both offensively and defensively. He’s done a great job and that’s what earned him a spot on the team."

"His toughness and his ability to handle a pitching staff early. Those are things we demanded from all the catchers in camp and he stood out right away. This is something that he was not going to let pass by. He earned the spot and had a great relationship with the pitchers and also swung the bat well."

* The decision to bring up Sean White was based largely on what he did in spring training.

"Being able to see what he did in spring training," Wakamatsu said. "Hopefully what we’re talking about is a short stint until Rowland-Smith is able to get back. For us, he’s the right guy to fill that spot in the bullpen."

UPDATE: The Mariners only had 38 guys on their 40-man roster because Ryan Feierabend was placed on the 60 day disabled list. So no player was dropped.

The Mariners just made some roster moves, as expected.

Catcher Kenji Johjima has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right hamstring. The Mariners called up veteran Jamie Burke to take his place. Burke actually flew to Seattle today and was on standby to join the team pending final examination of Joh's hamstring.

Johjima left last night's game in the bottom of the fourth inning after experiencing tightness in his right hamstring running out his go-ahead, RBI single. He was re-examined today by Mariners medical director Dr. Edward Khalfayan. Khalfayan diagnosed a grade 1 strain. Johjima is expected to need two to three weeks to fully recover.

Johjima has appeared in seven games with Seattle this season, and is hitting .250 (6-for-24) with 4 RBI.

Burke has played in two games with the Rainiers this season, collecting a pair of hits in six at bats with a double and an RBI. While most would think that Jeff Clement would be the natural call-up, since he's already on the 40-man roster as well, it didn't happen largely because Clement is hitting .053 (1-for-19)for the Rainiers.

Burke spent the 2007 and 2008 seasons in Seattle, batting a combined .283 (58x205) with 11 doubles, two home runs and 20 RBI. He is a career .301 hitter in 171 big league games.

The Mariners also called up right-hander Sean White, who will move to the bullpen and provide some help since Chris Jakubauskas will be starting today in place of the injured Ryan Rowland-Smith.

White made two appearances with the Rainiers this season. He has no record and a 4.15 ERA with Tacoma (2 ER in 4.1 IP). White spent the 2008 season in Tacoma, but appeared in 15 games with Seattle in 2007. He has a career major league mark of 1-1, 5.06 with the Mariners.

To make room for White, infielder Matt Tuiasosopo was sent back to Tacoma, as expected.

Here's the box score.

A few housekeeping things....

* Manager Don Wakamatsu said that Jarrod Washburn was fighting a really bad head cold and some flu like symptoms. One of the reasons they took him out after six innings was that Washburn was starting to feel weak.

Washburn whispered a few words in the cluhouse. His voice was clearly gone and he asked not to answer questions because of it.

* Kenji Johjima has a strain of the right hamstring. Wakamatsu said it will be reevaluated on Thursday. If he goes on the disabled list, they could either call up Jeff Clement or Jamie Burke. Clement is struggling mightily at Triple A Tacoma, hitting just .053 (1 hit in 19 at-bats). The M's could call on veteran Jamie Burke, but he's not on the 40-man roster, and so to call him up, someone would have to be taken off the 40-man roster, which would make the eligible to be claimed by another team. But someone like Bryan LaHair, who is on the 40-man, could be dropped to make room.

Also I asked Wakamatsu if they are going to have to make a roster move to add some bullpen help with Chris Jakubauskas starting for the disabled list bound Ryan Rowland-Smith. Wakamatsu said they were going to meet after the game to make that decision and minor league director Pedro Grifol and some other scouts were loitering around Wak's office.

However some of the best relievers in Tacoma thus far, Denny Stark, Eric Hull, Randy Messenger and Jesus Delgado are not on the 40-man roster either. So Wak and his guys have decisions to make.

Let's go to Ichiro
Here's video clip of it.

Ichiro was his typical interesting self following the game. He met with a really large group of Asian reporters after the game, and then addressed the English-speaking writers, even taking a few digs at us.

Here's a transcript ...

In your thoughts of this record, did grand slam ever enter your mind?

“I definitely didn’t think grand slam, but a lot of times when I have records on the line, I have had a tendency to hit home runs in those situations. So it crossed my mind that it might happen, but a grand slam, that barely happens in any situation, so that did not cross my mind.”

Will you feel better when the record is behind you?

“The American media finds out this information through the Japanese media and that’s why you come here (locker). So I am glad that part of it is going to disappear.”

Did you feel you had to do something special on your return tonight because the team has been playing so well?

“I didn’t think I had to do anything special today, especially because the team made it easy for me to come back and play with everybody. I am thankful for that, but also today, I felt that if the team didn’t win tonight when I got back, all of you guys would write about that, so I am glad that is not going to happen.”

On what it meant to have Isao Harimoto on hand at the game?
"This game had a lot of meaning for me for him to come all the way here from Japan to see me play. It's probably the first and only time that will happen.”

On hitting a homer on the same day as Junior hit a memorable homer?

For me to hit a home run on the same day Junior hit ahistorical home run for him too is special for me. But not only that was special, but probably the two lightest guys in baseball hit home runs together - Me and Endy Chavez. That is very special to me as well.”

* Let's get to Griffey's home run

Here's the video of it.

He tried to downplay it saying, “I just try to go up and do what I can. If it goes out, it goes out."

After the homer he grabbed his son, Trey, who was in the dugout and kissed him on the cheek.

"The guys put him up to it," Griffey said. "It's one of those things where the guys were teasing him. It wasn't his fault. He toled I scarred him for life. He wasn't real happy about that. He said we would have to discuss some things when we got home."

No player has ever 400 homers for one team and 200 for another.

Now we get to Rob Johnson and Shawn Kelley
Johnson, as I've mentioned numerous times, is from my home state of Montana. He had a big impact going 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored, and really it could have been 3-for-3, his chopper in his last at-bat was bang-bang play at first base.

"Kenji was 2-for-2 when he got hurt, I just wanted to keep it going," he said.

While the two-run single was big, the lead-off double in sixth was probably more impressive. He showed speed most catchers don't have legging out the double and a head-first slide into second that knocked the wind out of him.

"Right out of box I was thinking two, I saw the ball skip a little bit and I knew Torii's quick so I knew I had to go," Johnson said. "Wak had been preaching aggressiveness so I knocked the wind out of me."

Johnson raved about the performance of Shawn Kelley, who came in and cleaned up the mess left by Miguel Batista. Kelley came in with runners on first and second with no outs. He got an out on a sac bunt, then struck out Erick Aybar and Chone Figgins. The strike out to Figgins, Kelley painted a fastball on the outside half that Figgins feebly waved at.

"He has ice in his veins," Johnson said. "He looked like a veteran out there. He really trusts his stuff. He was just dotting them. The strikeout to Figgins he just dotted it, down and away, I didn't even move."

Said Wakamatsu: "When Kelley came in there and pitched out of that jam, it was the turning point in the ballgame. Another big step for our bullpen."

Some notes from the M's

ANGELS NOTES:
• Jered Weaver is now 3-3, 6.00 ERA in 8 starts at Safeco Field. The Angels have lost 5 of his last 7 starts in Seattle.
• The Angels gave up a season high 11 runs and walked 6 batters for the third time this season.

MARINERS NOTES:
• Seattle has now won 6 straight games, their longest winning streak since winning 8, (June 23-July 1, 2007). At 7-2, this start ties the Mariners best start in franchise history. Seattle was 7-2 during the record-breaking 2001 season.

• Ichiro Suzuki went 2x5 with a grand slam home run in today's game. With his grand slam to right field in the seventh inning, his second hit of the game, he tied Isao Harimoto for the most professional hits by a Japanese-born player with 3,085. Isao Harimoto was in attendance for today's game.
• Ken Griffey Jr. homered to right-center on a 2-1 pitch in the fifth inning. It was his 400th home run as a Mariner, and his 613th overall. Griffey later singled to left in the 7th and came around to score.

• Endy Chavez and Ken Griffey Jr. hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning to give the Mariners the lead. It was the first time the Mariners have hit back-to-back home runs since Wladimir Balentien and Kenji Johjima went deep consecutively at Minnesota on Aug. 17, 2008, the only time during the 2008 season.
• Endy Chavez went 2x4 and extended his hitting streak to 9 games. He remains tied for the longest hitting streak in the Majors this season. This now ties the second longest hitting streak of his career (last: July 18-26, 2004 w/ MON).
• Ichiro’s grand slam in the seventh inning was the fourth of his career (last: August 25, 2005).

• Jarrod Washburn recorded the 100th victory of his career with today’s 6.0 inning effort and his 25th as a Mariner.

• Jose Lopez's sacrifice bunt in the fourth inning led to the Mariners first run of the game and was the 7th of the year for Seattle. The Mariners lead the AL in sacrifice hits this season. In 2008, the M’s were 4th in the AL with 36 sac bunts.
• Since the 2006 season, Lopez leads the Major League's in sacrifices (SF+SH) with 48.
• Rob Johnson came in to the game as a pinch runner for Johjima in the fourth inning and finished the game 2x3 with two runs scored and two RBI. It was the second multi-hit game of his career (last: 9/26/08 vs. OAK).
• Mariners notched season high’s in hits (15) and runs scored (11) and walks (6) in today’s game.
• Angelo Terranova of Port Angeles was the winner of ESPN 710's "7 in the 7th" contest as the Mariners scored seven runs in the seventh inning. Terranova won $7,000 as part of the promotion.