After losing a 2-1 game in chilly weather, the Mariners play the nightcap of this double-header in even chillier weather.

If pitching dominated the first game, it should own Game 2 - Felix Hernandez vs. John Danks, a lefty with a 0.95 earned run average.

Gentlemen, find your bats. First team to score wins.

Ok, that's that

Ichiro singled, Chavez bunted him to second and Ichiro stole third base.

DH Sweeney singled home a run, and that should be enough, don't you think?

After half an inning: Mariners 1, White Sox 0

Yuni time

Yes, he drives you crazy when he won't take pitches, occasionally takes an inning off in the field and appears not to think - but Yuniesky Betancourt can hit.

One swing - a three-run home run in the second inning - has given Felix more runs than Chris Jakubauskas got in a complete-game loss.

Felix will take them and more.

To the bottom of the second: Mariners 4, White Sox 0.

Rolling, rolling, rolling

Lopez singled and Branyan - shattering his bat - doubled down the right field line.

Balentien flied out deep enough to get a run home, and Betancourt singled to put runners at first and third base with one out.

Jamie Burke walked to load the bases, and Ichiro forced Branyan at the plate. Chavez grounded out, and the Mariners left 'em loaded.

To the bottom of four: Mariners 5, White Sox 0.

Wak Ball

Branyan doubled, his third hit, and with him running, Balentien grounded to the right side.

With Branyan at third, Betancourt singled for his third hit and - gasp! - stole second base. Ichiro legged out an infield single, Chavez flied out.

To the bottom of six: Mariners 6, White Sox 0.

The numbers pile up

Branyan sets a career high with four hits, Betancourt sets a career high with five RBI and Jakubauskas must be wondering where all this offense was four hours ago.

As Felix walks to the mound, he has a streak of 17 consecutive scoreless innings going.

Can you say 4-0?

To the bottom of the seventh: Mariners 7, White Sox 0

It's a wrap

Roy Corcoran allowed a run in mop-up time, but Felix stretched his string of consecutive scoreless innings to a career-best 19.

The final: Mariners 9, White Sox 1

You can count the in-house attendance for Game 1 of the double header in the hundreds, not the thousands.

It's always the case: an April game, not on the schedule, played on a week day, in bad weather ....

Put another way, if both benches emptied, then charged the stands as one, fans would be out-numbered. They may continue to wander in as the game goes along, but it will be getting colder.

We're off - 39 degrees and falling.
Patience, patience

Three innnings in, the Mariners have worked Chicago starter Bartolo Colon for 48 pitches - not bad considering they've had only one baserunner.

Chris Jakubauskas, by contrast, has thrown an economical 31 pitches over three innnings - and no White Sox batter has reached base.

Seattle's goal is to get Colon out relatively early and eat away at the Chicago bullpen.

After three: No score.

Bad time for a bad pitch

After walking a batter, Jakubauskas gave up a single to Carlos Quentin, then got the second out of the inning.

On a 1-1 pitch to Paul Konerko, the rookie right-hander left a fastball up, and Konerko doubled into the left field corner for two runs.

Two-run mistake.

Into the fifth: White Sox 2, Mariners 0

A Chicago mistake

Russell Branyan drew a walk and Jose Lopez grounded to third base - but second baseman Brent Lillibridge dropped the relay, so everyone was safe.

Rookie Rob Johnson doubled home a run, but Franklin Gutierrez popped out.

Yuniesky Betancourt - first-pitch swinging - just missed the left field foul pole. Foul ball.

Betancourt - second pitch swinging - then popped out.

To the bottom six: White Sox 2, Mariners 1

Luck is not his friend

Jakubauskas has thrown a marvelous game - eight innings, two hits and two runs allowed - and is about to see his record drop to 1-3.

Two starts ago, against the Angels, he pitched 5 1/3 innings, gave up two runs and lost.

The kid from the indpendent league doesn't have the greatest numbers or much luck, but he's shown he can pitch in the bigs.

To the ninth: White Sox 2, Mariners 1

One last shot

Adrian Beltre aboard on an error, Jose Lopez a one-out walk - and there it was, a point-blank scoring opportunity.

Pinch-hitter Mike Sweeney struck out. Beltre stole third base.

Pinch-hitter Wladimir Balentien flied out.

Final: White Sox 2, Mariners 1

Second game starts at 5:11 p.m. (PDT)

Endy Chavez was still accepting congratulations today, although many teammates weren't certain precisely what they were congratulating him for.

On Monday, Mike Sweeney and the team held a ceremony for Chavez having earndd his American citizenship - during which Sweeney and others teased him that he was no longer a Latino.

Turns out, it was his residency, not a change of citizenship - Chavez had been issued a green card.

"And I can't even have that yet," he said.

As for the clubhouse ceremony?

"It was a lot of fun," Chavez said.

Adrian Beltre and Ken Griffey Jr. made an executive call and it was the stuff of genius.

The Mariners were scheduled to stretch and take batting practice on the field before Game 1 of today's double header. It is, by Chicago terminology, a bit cheeky.

Beltre and Griffey found a way to have the team take BP in the covered cages - meaning no pitchers had to shag in the outfield.

The White Sox never planned to take the field, so the move made perfect sense.

Now, about the two games.

"I think I'd rather be a pitcher than a hitter today," Don Wakamatsu said.

Reliever Brandon Morrow agreed.

"Not to many hitters are going to want to swing at inside strikes today," he said. "Once a pitcher is hot, he's OK. Hitters? I don't know how they keep their hands warm."

No, it's not freezing. It's not raining. It is windy, a swirling, brisk wind that seems to be in your face no matter where you are on the field.

The Mariners are now taking infield.

Most players are in stocking caps.

Here's the Game 1 lineup:
Ichiro RF
Chavez LF
Griffey Jr. DH
Beltre 3B
Branyan 1B
Lopez 2B
Johnson C
Gutierrez CF
Betancout SS
Jakubauskas RHP

LO NAMED CALIFORNIA LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Taiwan native Kuo Hui Lo (right) ripped apart Cal League pitchers this week, with 4 homers in 5 games -- including a pair of roundtrippers to cap off the week on April 26. The Mariners prospect hit safely and had at least 1 RBI in each game this week. He currently leads the circuit with 6 triples and an .811 slugging percentage. Lo is riding a 6-game hitting streak into the third week of the season.
.429 (9-21), 7 R, 0 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0 SB, 1.190

AAA Tacoma Rainiers (PCL)
Here's Mike Curto's game story ... of note Jeff Clement made his first start at first base and Cesar Jimenez looked solid in his second rehab apperance.

Tacoma 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors
Colorado Springs 5 runs, 10 hits, 1 error
Pitching Lines: IP, H, R, ER, BB, K
RH Chris Seddon (L, 1-2) 5.0,9,5,5,1,1,3HR
RH Jesus Delgado 1.0,0,0,0,2,1
LH Cesar Jimenez 1.0,1,0,0,0,1
RH Doug Fister 1.0,0,0,0,0,0
With the Bats:
CF Freddy Guzman 1x3, R, 3B
DH Mike Carp 1x4
C Guillermo Quiroz 1x3
Of Note: Jason Hirsch allowed 3 hits in 7.0 innings and Eric Young, Daniel Ortmeier and Matt Murton hit solo homers as Colorado Springs earned a 5-1 victory over Tacoma on Monday. Hirsh struck out 9 and allowed 1 run when Freddy Guzman tripled and scored on a fielder's choice in the 6th. Mike Carp is hitting .471 (8x17) with 5 runs scored, 3 extra-base hits and 5 RBI during his current 4-game hit streak. Prentice Redman went 0x4 in the game ending his hitting streak at 9 games. During the streak he hit .429 (15x35) with 4 multi-hit games. Redman has also hit safely 15 of 18 games this season, batting .324 (24x74) with 17 runs scored, 4 doubles, 6 home runs and 10 RBI. Jeff Clement also went 0x4 in the game, ending his hitting streak at 7 games (.419/13x31). Since starting the season batting .045 (1x22), Clement is batting .371 (13x35) with 6 runs scored, 6 extra-base hits and 7 RBI in his last 8 games.
Infielder Ben Billingsley was transferred to extended spring training, and infielder Erick Monzon joined the club from Double-A West Tennessee, where he hit .200 (5-for-25) with two home runs and three RBI.
Today’s probable starter:
RH Andy Baldwin (1-1, 1.72 ERA) at Colorado Springs

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