A few things before I head back to Tacoma ... and sneak in a workout

The Mariners (15-12) are now 1/2 game up on the Rangers (14-12) in the AL West standings.

First of all, it appears Shawn Kelley (pictured above from the TNT's Joe Barrentine) will be going on the disabled list.

“All signs would indicate that this will take a little bit of time to recover," Wakamatsu said.

Wakamatsu said he didn't think Kelley would even leave with the team today. We haven't heard an official report, but it's most likely a strained oblique/abdominal.

As I said earlier, it looks as thought lefty Garrett Olson will be the player called up to replace him on the roster. Olson was supposed to start in Salt Lake City tonight for the Rainiers but was scratched. It makes sense. Olson is stretched out and they might need a long guy with Carlos Silva starting.

When Kelley went down, that kind of messed up the whole bullpen set up. Wak was hoping to avoid using Denny Stark unless an absolute emergency -- White, Batista and Vargas weren't available.

But Stark had to come in for the third straight day. I asked Stark if he could ever remember throwing in games on three straight days - remember he was a starter first and he's also had two Tommy John surgeries - and he said he couldn't but then said he wasn't going to make excuses. Fine. I'll make them for him.

As for the offense, Wak was relatively blunt about it.

“It’s one of those games that the offense needed to pick up the pitching and it didn’t,” he said.

Erik Bedard did his part, going seven and allowing one run against the Rangers. The Rangers can flat out wear out a team's pitching staff, especially when they get into a team's bullpen.

The offense was less than stellar. The Mariners made Padilla look less like psychotic serial killer and more like a Cy Young winner.

Rob Johnson summed it up pretty well.

"We had no run support for our starting pitchers, no run support for our relievers and they're just going out and putting up zeroes for us," he said.

From the postgame notes

RANGERS NOTES:
* The Rangers have won 6 of 8 games and 4 in a row, their longest winning streak of the season…with the win, the Rangers have now taken 6 of the last 7 games at Safeco Field.
* Vicente Padilla allowed only 1 hit in a season-high 8.0 innings, his longest outing since April 27, 2008 vs. MIN when he tossed a complete game shutout...his 1 hit allowed was his lowest ever in an outing of 8.0+ innings...this was his 2nd consecutive quality start...over his last 7 starts against Seattle, he is 3-0 with a 1.61 ERA (8 ER, 44.2 IP), including 2-0 with a 0.34 ERA (1 ER, 26.2 IP) in 4 games at Safeco Field.
* Michael Young went 3x5 with a double, extending his hitting streak to 9 games…during the streak he is batting .425 (17x40) with 7 runs, 2 home runs, 5 doubles, 5 RBI…Young’s current streak is tied for 3rd longest active streak in the American League.
* Ian Kinsler went 2x6 and Michael Young went 3X5… both Kinsler and Young have 12 multi-hit games on the season, 3 behind AL leader, Aaron Hill of Toronto (15)… Young posted his 130th career game of 3-or-more hits, tying Juan Gonzalez for 2nd-most in team history behind only Ivan Rodriguez (146).
* Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit a 9th inning grand slam, his 2nd career slam (last: May 23, 2008 at CLE off Jorge Julio).
* Frank Francisco finished the game, pitching 0.2 scoreless innings… has opened the season with 13 consecutive scoreless outings (13.2 IP)…has the most scoreless innings of any pitcher in the majors this season (13.0).
* Last Texas pitcher with at least 8.0 innings and no earned runs to take a no decision: Chris Young, May 9, 2005 vs. Detroit

MARINERS NOTES:
* The Mariners were swept for the first time this season…have lost just 3 of 9 series…was the Mariners 3rd extra inning game of the year, they are now 2-1 in extra inning games.
* Erik Bedard had his 2nd longest outing of the season, a 7-inning effort and struck out 7 and dropped his ERA from 2.61 to 2.37...has the 3rd best ERA in the American League...recorded a no-decision today but remains 3-1 with a 2.45 ERA (12 ER, 44.0 IP) over his last 7 starts vs. Texas...strikes 9.24 batters per 9-innings, was 6th best coming into play today...has struck out at least 6 in 5 of his 6 starts.
* Wladimir Balentien threw out Michael Young at the plate in the 8th inning to keep game tied at 1-1...his first assist of the season and 3rd for the Mariners (Chavez, Gutierrez)...Balentien recorded 6 outfield assists in 68 games last year.
* Russell Branyan doubled and scored in the 10th inning… since April 17, Branyan is hitting .362 (17x47) with 12 runs, 5 doubles, 5 home runs and 12 RBI…Branyan leads the Mariners in home runs (7) and runs scored (18).
* The Mariners had 4 hitting streaks snapped by Texas…Franklin Gutierrez (8 games, .483/14x29), T2nd-longest of his career…Yuniesky Betancourt (6 games, .407/11x27), Jose Lopez (6 games, .367/11x30), Ichiro (6 games, .281/9x32).
* Wladimir Balentien recorded Seattle’s first hit of the day, a single in the 5th…has hit safely in 7 of 10 starts (.368/14x38).
* Reliever Shawn Kelley left the game in the 10th inning with a strained oblique on the left side.

From the desk of Mariners' media relation's Kelly Munro

AAA Tacoma Rainiers (PCL)
Tacoma 7 runs, 13 hits, 2 errors
Salt Lake 9 runs, 11 hits, 2 errors
Here's Mike Curto's Game Story
BOX SCORE
Pitching Lines:
RH Andy Baldwin 6.0,7,4,4,2,4
LH Cesar Jimenez (L, 0-1) 1.1,4,5,4,3,0
LH Justin Thomas 0.2,0,0,0,0,1
With the Bats:
C Jeff Clement 3x5, 2 R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, BB
CF Mike Saunders 2x6, 2 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI
1B Mike Carp 2x4, R, 2B, RBI, BB
DH Chris Shelton 2x5, RBI
Of Note: Chris Pettit's 2-run double capped a 4-run 7th inning by Salt Lake as the Bees rallied for a 9-7 victory over Tacoma on Monday night. All the Bees' damage in the 7th came against Cesar Jimenez. Mike Carp has hit safely in 8 of his last 9 games, batting .417 (15x36) with 10 runs scored, 6 extra-base hits and 7 RBI. Since returning from the DL, Mike Saunders has hit safely in 3 of 4 games, batting .353 (6x17) with 5 runs scored, 1 double, 4 home runs and 9 RBI. Outfielder Jerry Owens signed his free agent contract and joined the Rainiers on Monday. In order to make room for Owens, outfielder Freddy Guzman was released. Guzman hit .214 in 42 at-bats and led the team with four stolen bases in 13 games. Guzman’s status was hampered by a broken hamate bone, which caused him to miss spring training and join the Rainiers late.
Today’s probable starter:
LH Garrett Olson (2-2, 3.08 ERA) at Salt Lake

=> Read more!

Greetings and welcome through this afternoon sojourn of baseball. I can't believe but they are actually opening the roof at Safeco Field. After what I saw this morning, I thought there was no way. But the roof is opening and the rays of hazy sunshine are shining down of fellow ray of sunshine Erik Bedard.

Anyway, I was excited about the chance to cover this game. No not because it's day baseball and I get to sit next to my buddy Johnny McGrath during the game. Not for the chance to see Bedard pitch and see him glare oddly at some of the insane questions the TV people ask postgame, no it's because I get to run this picture ....

Simply one of the greatest player headshots in baseball or in the realm of potential serial killers.

And it's not just the one picture either, how about this ...

Anyway, GAME UPDATES START HERE (lineups below)

Top of 1st
Erik Bedard gets in a minor jam giving up two hits, but he gets Andruw Jones and Hank Blalock to pop up.

Bottom of 1st
Could be a big day from Ichiro, he came into today hitting .541 (20-for-37) against Vicente. So of course he pops up in his first at-bat. Easy inning for Vicente

Top of 2nd
Bedard again allows the lead-off hitter (actually Wlad probably should have caught that) to reach forcing him to throw extra pitches, but gets out.

Bottom of 2nd
Padilla is looking solid, and still scary.

Top of 3rd
Bedard looked like he was in a much better rhythm that inning. Of course no baserunners help that situation.

Bottom of 3rd
Not much going on, Johnson tried to bunt and Padilla threw Betancourt a curveball that was so slow it didn't register on the radar gun here.

Top of 4th
Great catch from Russell Branyan going, reaching into the stands and grabbing a pop up from the baseball player formerly known as Andruw Jones.

Bottom of 4th
Ichiro is the first base runner with a walk, but that lasts for about one pitch as Lopez grounds into the a double play.

Top of 5th
Bedard is rolling along nicely, he gave up a single, but nothing else. It's started to rain, but they waited a while to start closing the roof.

Bottom of 5th
Wlad breaks up the no-hitter off of Padilla. With the rain coming down there was brief pause as the umps thought about waiting for the roof to close, perhaps out of the complaints from the Rangers. But they didn't. On a side note, I was wide-eyed intern for the TNT back in 2000 when I covered my first game by myself and it was the day the roof didn't close and they actually had a rain delay at Safeco.

Top of 6th
nice pick off from Bedard to get out of the inning

Bottom of 6th
The at-bat Yuni had in this inning pretty much sums up every rant I've ever had about his approach. And if he was supposed to bunt, he sure didn't show it. The Mariners get a break though as Ian Kinsler can't handle Jose Lopez's hard hit ground ball and a run scored. Mariners 1, Rangers 0.

Top of 7th
Apparently my last update never went up (though not surprisingly with our blog software)
Anyway Nelson Cruz crushed a Bedard pitch into the left field stands, clanging off the steps above the visitors bullpen to tie the game.

Bottom of 7th
Not much going for the Mariners there. They get a lead-off walk, but Beltre hit into a double play

Top of 8th
A little redemption for Rob Johnson, he hangs on to Wlad Balentien's throw from left to stop the potential go-ahead run at the plate for the third out.

Bottom of 8th
Not much going on from the Mariners, Yuni sees all of two pitches.

Top of 9th
Aardsma comes in and makes things interesting, loading the bases with two outs and bringing up Ian Kinsler. But Aardsma battles back and strikes him out after falling behind 3-1. His last three pitches were 95, 97, 97.

Bottom of 9th
The Mariners have one hit, insert the the line from Major League -- "One hit? That's all we got is one bleepin' hit?"

Top of 10th
That was scary as Kelley went down after throwing a pitch. I'm thinking it might be an oblique muscle strain and the Mariners are down 3-1. Denny STark comes in cold and warms up and takes over but he gives up four straight singles. Stark didn't give up a single to Saltlamacchia -- he gave up a grand slam. It's now 7-1.

Bottom of 10th
The Mariners are now turning into an offensive juggernaut, getting back to back doubles from Branyan and Beltre to score a run.

UPDATE: Expect Garrett Olson to be called up to replace Kelley on the roster. Olson was just scratched his start today in Salt Lake City and he's probably on his way to the SLC airport.

Texas (13-12)
Ian Kinsler 2B
Elvis Andrus SS
Michael Young 3B
Andruw Young LF
Hank Blalock DH
Marlon Byrd CF
Nelson Cruz RF
Chris Davis 1B
Jarrod Saltalamacchia C
--------
Vincente Padilla (1-2, 7.43 ERA)

Seattle (15-11)
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Jose Lopez 2B
Mike Sweeney DH
Russell Branyan 1B
Adrian Beltre 3B
Wladimir Balentien LF
Rob Johnson C
Franklin Gutierrez CF
Yuniesky Betancourt SS
---------
Erik Bedard (2-1, 2.61 ERA)

A few notes ....

* Brandon Morrow feels good after throwing a bullpen session and has no issues. He will throw another bullpen in Kansas City and should be ready to go when he comes off the DL in Minnesota.

* Ryan Rowland-Smith will throw a side session in the bullpen and I can actually see him doing it right now as I type this. He's doing really well according to Wakamatsu. He'll most likely throw a simulated game in Texas and then a bullpen and head out for rehab assignment.

But Wakamatsu cautioned about expecting him back any time soon.

"It will take him some time to get him back into starting shape," Wakamatsu said. "He's set back quite a while, you'll have to build up his pitch count. So even after Texas, you're thinking of a couple weeks after that."

* Ken Griffey Jr.'s inflamed colon is still inflamed and he won't play today. But Wakamatsu figures he'll play tomorrow.

"We really had a strong feeling that he'd be okay today," he said.

Here's today's lineups --- A few things, Wakamatsu said he didn't like the match-up with Chavez vs. Vicente Padilla. Chavez is 1-for-10 in his career against Padilla. And he also wants to get Balentien, who he said has been "starting to swing bat" some more at-bats. As for Lopez moving up to No. 2, it's a product of the line-up changes in other areas, but Wakamatsu said he wouldn't lock Lopez into the No. 2 spot.

As for continuing to make line-up adjustments, he said, "It's such a long year. We look at how you are swinging it right now, are you coming out of it, are you not coming out of it, do you need a day. Those are all factors."

When asked if he saw any signs of power coming from Beltre, Wak said flatly, "Not right now. When you get off to a tough start, the anxiety and pride to carry this club magnifies."

But Wak pointed out the two-strike at-bat the other day and some quality ABs in Chicago as positives.

"There are signs that he's coming out of this thing though," he said.

Texas (13-12)
Ian Kinsler 2B
Elvis Andrus SS
Michael Young 3B
Andruw Young LF
Hank Blalock DH
Marlon Byrd CF
Nelson Cruz RF
Chris Davis 1B
Jarrod Saltalamacchia C
--------
Vincente Padilla (1-2, 7.43 ERA)

Seattle (15-11)
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Jose Lopez 2B
Mike Sweeney DH
Russell Branyan 1B
Adrian Beltre 3B
Wladimir Balentien LF
Rob Johnson C
Franklin Gutierrez CF
Yuniesky Betancourt SS
---------
Erik Bedard (2-1, 2.61 ERA)