First of all, as I wrote in my game story tonight, let any doubters about Felix's dominance or his place atop the Mariners rotation be drilled in the ribs with one of his fastballs.

I can't tell you how impressed I was with him. I've seen him look more dominant at times and have statistically better starts, but what he did with the lineup he had behind him was just outstanding.

Look at all the things he had working against him.

• The Mariners back-up catcher, Jamie Burke, was forced into starting at first base because of injuries.
• Seattle’s two top left-handed hitting power threats – Russell Branyan and Ken Griffey Jr. – were on the bench.
• The line-up Wakamatsu put on the field had a combined five home runs between the nine players, while going against one of the AL’s best in Shields
• He tweaked his already achy right ankle in the second inning and could feel it throbbing all game.
• And the Rays, despite their 6-10 record, are still the defending American League champs with five hitters at the top of the order that are as good as any in baseball.

A few quotes on Felix ...

From Wak ...
“He showed you what he can truly be,” Wakamatsu said.

“To be able to come out and do what he did on a day like today is special,” Wakamatsu said. “It was just an outstanding performance by him.”

Wakamatsu also praised Felix's growing maturity. He mentioned him shaking off the errors. There was a time this spring where the team booted a few balls behind him and Felix let it get to him a little. Today that didn't happen.

Here's what Jamie Burke had to say about Felix, noting it was quite different watching Felix from first base.

“He’s grown and grown as a pitcher,” Burke said. “He’s got the knowledge of a 30-year-old veteran that’s been around. It’s great to see him grow.”

“When we turned those double plays and he’s staring at me and screaming … it’s a great feeling,” Burke said. “It just pumps you up.”

Felix also believes that he's matured and is able to control his emotions.

I asked him about the ankle, and if it hurts when he pitches or afterward, he said: "It hurts all the time." Basically, because he pitches every fifth day, it's not something that's going to heal immediately. I'm sure most of you have sprained an ankle in the past and once you sprain it, it's pretty dang easy to sprain it again. Even the slightest - tweak like today - can make it hurt.

Alright, let's get to Ichiro and his lead-off home run - the only run of the game.

As the notes listed below, it was the 28th of his career.

Ichiro could never recall ever leading off a game with a homer and winning the game 1-0, even his youth baseball days, but as he pointed out, he didn't always bat lead-off. That was something that came in his professional days.

As for the significance in this game, he was philosophical as usual.
“In reality, when it first happens, they’re all just important because you don’t know what the outcome is,” Ichiro said through his translator Ken Baron. “They are all equal at that moment. But looking back on it, it was a special case.”

“Even before the game started, I think we could all tell what kind of game it would be,” Ichiro said, referencing the pitching match-up of Shields and Hernandez. “You could tell it was probably going to be a one-run game.”

One more thought ... David Aardsma was filthy in the eighth inning. That was pretty sweet, just dominating. This is a guy the Mariners got for Fabian Williamson. Good job, Big Z on that one.

Here's a few notes though ....

RAYS NOTES:
• James Shields recorded his second outing of the season of at least 7.0 innings and one or fewer earned runs…was his first loss while allowing only a single run since Sept. 14, 2007 at Seattle…is now 1-2, 2.10 ERA (7 ER, 30.0 IP) at Safeco Field in four starts.
• Pat Burrell worked a season-high 3 walks, his most walks in a game since June 13, 2008 at St. Louis…has walked 4 times in a single game twice in his career (last: 5/6/07 @ SF).
• Carl Crawford had his 5th multi-hit game of the season, going 2x4 on the day.
• Tampa Bay was shut out for just the 2nd time this season.

MARINERS NOTES:
• The Mariners 1-0 victory was the 2nd of the season, marking the first time to have two 1-0 wins in the same season since 2004 (6/11 vs. MON; 9/15 vs. ANA)…Seattle is now 35-41 all-time in 1-0 games.
• Ichiro lead off the game with a home run (2), giving him 28 lead off home runs and tying him with Jimmy Rollins and Davey Lopes for 12th on the all time leadoff home run list.
• Marked the 22nd time in Major League history that a leadoff home run has decided a 1-0 game and 2nd in Mariners history (Greg Briley, 6/19/92 at MIN)…thanks to SABR home run guru David Vincent for the research help.
• Felix Hernandez tossed 7.0 shutout innings for the 11th time in his career (last: 5/31/08 vs. DET)…he struck out 7 batters; has struck out at least 6 in each of his 4 starts and now leads the American League with 27 strikeouts.
• Hernandez has tossed at least 7.0 innings in each of his 6 starts vs. Tampa Bay…Seattle has won 5 of his 6 starts.
• Brandon Morrow recorded his 5th save of the season (5-for-5) and is now tied for the American League lead…has not allowed a run in his last 6 appearances while giving up only 2 hits…also has not allowed a run at Safeco Field as a reliever since April 26, 2008 vs. Oakland (1-0 with 7 saves in 21.1 innings pitched spanning 22 appearances at Safeco while striking out 29).
• David Aardsma continued his scoreless inning streak by tossing a scoreless 8th. Has not allowed a run this season in 6.2 innings, the longest for a Mariners reliever this season.
• The Mariners recorded only 4 base hits and are now 2-2 when recording 4 hits or less this season…from 2006-08, Seattle had been 2-33 when recording 4 hits or less.
• Seattle committed season-high 3 errors, most since having 3 errors June 9, 2008 at Toronto…last recorded 4 fielding miscues on May 13, 2008 at Texas.
• Today was the fastest game of the year (2:22)…Tuesday’s game (2:23) was the previous fastest game.

As many of you have noticed and voiced complaints about, the FSN feed from Safeco the last two days have experienced technical difficulties. I was told the feed was lost for some time today.

Here's an explanation I received in email from FSN's Jill Wiggins about the situation..

Today’s Mariners game on FSN Northwest went off the air at 5:06 pm due to a lightning strike at the network’s technical operations facility in Atlanta, GA. The strike disabled the facility’s uplink capability and service was interrupted for approximately 30 minutes until a backup facility could resume transmission of the network’s feed. We understand and apologize for the inconvenience and disappointment this may have caused the Mariners organization, their fans and all of our viewers. FSN Northwest will replay this afternoon’s game in its entirety immediately following the live postgame and a 90-minute condensed replay will air at 10:30pm.

As I've said before, I love me some day baseball. Even if it is freezing cold day baseball. Today is a day when paying $7 for the bleacher seats and sitting in the sun is a wise investment.

I'd wear a Snuggie if somebody gave me one right now. Even it was bright pink. In fact, I'm thinking the Mariners should sell navy blue snuggies with the Mariners logos for people who want to buy them. I'd bet you they would sell more than you would think.

Top of 1st
Felix looking sharp, striking out Upton and Longoria.

Bottom of 1st
Ichiro starts off the game with a solo home run to right. It was his 28th lead off homer of his career.

Top of 2nd
Well, this is interesting. We have a double error on the play as Jamie Burke boots a ball at first, then makes a wild throw past Felix who was covering. The ball then gets by Rob Johnson, who was backing up allowing the lead runner to go to third. So there was an error on BUrke and an error on Johnson, oh and Felix seemed to tweak his ankle on the play. But he gets out of the inning, striking out Navarro and getting Iwamura to pop up.

Bottom of 2nd
Shields mows through three hitters in the second.

Top of 3rd
And the Mariners commit another error as Yuni is forced to hurry a throw on a slow roller from Carl Crawford and he throws it wide of Burke at first. The play is scored as a hit with Crawford advancing to second on a throwing error on Yuni. And again Felix gets out of the jam with a strike out of Longoria.

Bottom of 3rd
Three up, three down, but Jason Bartlett made an outstanding play on the ball to short by Ichiro. That's far more difficult than he made it look.

Sorry for the delay, having some computer issues, or more specifically internet issues - lost my connection. I hear FSN is having technical difficulties as well.

Anyway, not much has happened since. We're in the top of the seventh. Felix has allowed four hits, the Mariners have three hits and three errors, and still lead 1-0. A couple of nice double plays have helped.

Felix could be done after seven he was at about 105 pitches. And I was right, Aardsma is in the eighth.

Felix -- 7 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 7 K

Shields has been just as good, the guy made one bad mistake to Ichiro and really hasn't been hit hard since. He may go the distance.

Top of 8th
Aardsman comes in and looks strong two Ks and a nice split to get Longoria to pop out.

Bottom of 8th
Shields gets a quick out to start the inning as Yuni, is well, Yuni. But Burke reaches on a Longoria error. Joe Maddon brings in Brian Shouse and the submarining lefty gets out of the jam, striking out Endy Chavez with Ichiro on second. We go to the ninth with Morrow coming in and facing Pena, Burrell and Zobrist.

Shields 7 1/3 1 R, 4 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks. 102 pitches, 69 strikes.

Top of 9th
Pena with a ground ball to the right side, but the M's have the shift on and get him out. But Pat Burrell walks (his third of the game). Gabe Kapler is in to pinch run for him. And now Kapler moves to second on a wild pitch.

But Morrow gets out to get the save. Felix now 3-0.

* 17,639 was the paid attendance

Rays (6-9)
BJ Upton CF
Carl Crawford LF
Evan Longoria 3B
Carlos Pena 1B
Pat Burrell DH
Ben Zobrist RF
Dioner Navarro C
Aki Iwamura 2B
Jason Bartlett SS
---------
James Shields (2-1, 4.58)

Mariners (9-6)
Ichiro RF
Endy Chavez LF
Jose Lopez 2B
Adrian Beltre 3B
Wlad Balentien DH
Rob Johnson C
Franklin Gutierrez CF
Yuni Betancourt SS
Jamie Burke 1B
--------------
Felix Hernandez (2-0, 4.26 ERA)

UPDATE: And now we have the (correct) lineups ... and Burke is at first.

Rays (6-9)
BJ Upton CF
Carl Crawford LF
Evan Longoria 3B
Carlos Pena 1B
Pat Burrell DH
Ben Zobrist RF
Dioner Navarro C
Aki Iwamura 2B
Jason Bartlett SS
---------
James Shields (2-1, 4.58)

Mariners (9-6)
Ichiro RF
Endy Chavez LF
Jose Lopez 2B
Adrian Beltre 3B
Wlad Balentien DH
Rob Johnson C
Franklin Gutierrez CF
Yuni Betancourt SS
Jamie Burke 1B
--------------
Felix Hernandez (2-0, 4.26 ERA)

First and foremost, the reason I haven't posted the line-up is that we haven't seen one. We saw an early one that manager Don Wakamatsu set out, but that's going to to change.

Why?

Because Ronny Cedeno tweaked his right hamstring a little and they've scratched him from the line-up.

"Ronny's injury is real minor, it's just one of those deals where you don't want it to blow on him," Wakamatsu said.

Mike Sweeney is also out due to back spasms. Russell Branyan, also suffering from back spasms, took ground balls and some swings, but they aren't sure if they are going to play him.

So that would mean with all three out, Jose Lopez, who was scheduled to play first will most likely move back to second, and back-up catcher Jamie Burke would play first base.

Burke worked out at first during batting practice and looked fine.

It's not a position he's unfamiliar to. He played there six times last year, the last being on Sept. 18, 2006, for two innings. In 2006 with Triple A Oklahoma City, Burke started 18 games at first. Don't let his squatty frame fool you, Burke is a pretty good athlete. He was drafted as a third baseman and he was a kicker in college at Oregon State. Remember when he pitched last year? (Pictured right) I'll get you the lineups as soon as possible.

If that's the case, the Mariners will have a lonely bench. Wak called them all emergency guys that he hopes he doesn't have to use.

When asked if it is getting to the point where he might make a roster move, Wakamatsu said it didn't seem likely with so many guys close to coming back.

"None of the injuries are severe enough where we want to DL somebody and bring up some body right now," he said.

* WABUBBA, I asked Wak about the Ichiro steal last night in the sixth and here's his response.

"In that situation, he has the greenlight. It was one of those things where the pitcher was extremely slow and then he slidestepped and got thrown out," Wakamatsu said. "In defense of that, with our offense the way it is. Are we going to walk right now? Are we going to drive those guys in? That's why I've always, even in spring training, said we'll make some mistakes aggressively. It might no always look like the smartest. We will push it. No one wants to get thrown out in that situation. But if he gets there, maybe we get a base hit, we score a run and some things start happening.

* Wak was asked about Ken Griffey Jr.'s recent production at the plate or lack there of.

"It's a combination of things, maybe that he's not getting the pitches, and that's why he walked a lot, and if guys aren't hitting around him doesn't make it any easier on him," Wakamatsu said. "If you look at the immediate order no one is really swinging it. It's a lineup where we have to feed off each other. Versatility comes when people are swinging it well, but right now we are getting it."

Part of the reason this is getting to you so late is that our pregame meeting with Wak was delayed by Junior who sat in on the dugout and acted like a manager taking questions for awhile and talked of himself in the third person which was great. It was quite humorous.

Here's a few snippets ...

On being out of the line-up?
We don't play Ken on day games after night games.

On if temperature is a factor?
The temperature is fine, but once it gets below 52 degrees Ken doesn't play.

So when do you play?
Ken plays on special days, like Mothers' day.

A Latin reporter asked Griffey if he's picking up any Spanish being around so many Latin players...

Just the cusswords. That's all I know.

And Japanese?
No, Ichiro won't teach me any of the cusswords.

Griffey said it was one of the first things they did with Japanese players that came to the U.S.
"That's the first thing we taught Mac Suzuki," he said.

On the Mariners leading the league in bunts?
I don't know, but I'll have at least two this season.

Greetings from a cool and crisp Safeco Field. The sun is out, but it's not a real warm by any means. Right now, Cesar Jimenez and Carlos Silva are out playing some frisbee in the outfield. It's something that the pitchers do to run around a little. It's funny because some of them look so awkward trying to catch it - not always the highest level of coordination or grace.

For those of you masochistic enough, you can listen to my weekly appearance with Ian Furness on KJR here. Of course, I offer my thoughts about Yuni and Washburn.

Anyway, it's tough to argue with the pitching match-up we get to see today.

James Shields - 2-1 with a 4.85 ERA, 19.2 IP, 19 hits, 10 runs, 6 BB, 9 K
He's got a great changeup (which you see him gripping below). He's made four career starts against the Mariners and is 1-1 with a 2.12 ERA. The one win came in his only start against the M's last season, when he beat Carlos Silva 5-3 in Safeco.

VS.

Felix Hernandez - 2-0 with a 4.26 ERA, 19 IP, 19 hites, nine runs, six BB, 20 Ks.
You're in the rubber game of a series with the defending AL champion Tampa Bay Rays, is there any pitcher on staff you'd rather want making the start? Felix has made six starts against the Rays, he's 1-1 with a 2.54 ERA. Seattle is 4-1 in his starts and has pitched at least 7.2 innings per start against the Rays.

Headed down to the clubhouse, and I'll be back with some more pregame stuff in a few along with some links.