Ichiro starts the night with a 21-game hitting streak, a .343 batting average and 16 runs scored.

Why? The answer is in the lineup behind him.

Adrian Beltre is batting third tonight, Ken Griffey Jr. fourth - and Beltre is hitting .212, Griffey .218. No team in baseball will field a weaker 3-4 punch tonight.

Want more? Jose Lopez (.216) and Rob Johnson (.211) are in the lineup, too, which puts a lot of pressure on the pitching - in this case, lefty Jason Vargas.

It's Vargas vs. John Lackey, and Lackey has to be dying to get started against these Mariners.

And we're off.

Ichiro delivers

One-out third-inning singles from Endy Chavez and Franklin Gutierrez put runners at first and third base for - guess who - Ichiro.

After fouling a bunt attempt that was not a squeeze, Ichiro fell behind Lackey 0-2, then singled into right field for a run and the lead.

Oh yes, and make that a 22-game hitting streak.

Lackey walked Yuniesky Betancourt on four pitches, probably one of the toughest things he's ever done. It's hard to throw four pitches - all in the air - that Yuni won't swing at.

Bases loaded for Beltre, whose excuse-me roller down the third base line wound up an infield RBI single. That brought up Junior, who flied out deep enought to get Ichiro home - Junior's 13th RBI, Ichiro's 17th run scored.

In the third: Mariners 3, Angels 0

That man Rivera

Outfielder Juan Rivera has five home runs this season - four against Seattle. No. 5 came on a pitch Vargas left up in the fifth inning, and it wasn't cheap.

The lefty seemed absolutely unfazed by the mistake, and got the next three batters and has now worked five innings.

In starts against Texas, Boston, San Francisco and now Los Angeles, Vargas has pitched a least five innings in every game and allowed only one earned run in each.

Yes, that's impressive.

After five: Mariners 3, Angels 1

Wak ball

You remember 'Wak ball,' where the Marines find ways to push runs home without the help of, say, two hits in an inning.

Russell Branyan doubled to open the sixth, Jose Lopez bunted him to third and a Chavez fly ball got him home.

The lead is three again, and Vargas made it stand up through six. Miguel Batista is loose in the bullpen and likely coming in to pitch the seventh inning.

Feel secure?

After six: Mariners 4, Angels 1

Goodnight Mr. Vargas, hello bullpen

A walk and two singles chased Vargas after 6 1/3 innings, and Sean White hustled in and put the Angels own on a pop fly and a strikeout with a man on third.

The Mariners tried more 'Wak ball' in the top of the inning, bunting Ichiro over to third after a leadof doulble. What happened?

Beltre struck out. Griffey flied out.

Seattle could sure use that run.

After seven: Mariners 4, Angels 2

And in the end

Great relief pitching by Sean White and Mark Lowe to get the game to the ninth. There, David Aardsma got the first two outs, gave up a single and a walk, and struck out Mike Napoli to end it.

That's a win for Vargas, a save for Aardsma and - lookie there - the Mariners are two back of the Angels in the American League West.

Final score: Mariners 5, Angels 2

It sprinkled in Southern California today, and hundreds of locals ran screaming into the sea like lemmings - convinced the sun had disappeared forever.

That's the depth of life here, where cloudy weather is thought to be the beginning of the end of the world.

The Mariners, of course, took the drops like men and went through with early batting practice. None melted. No one was washed away.

That won't be the case by, oh, say Aug. 1.

If you recognize the infield, it'll be a surprise. Adrian Beltre, Jose Lopez and Yuniesky Betancourt could all be traded away and, should enough be offered for Russell Branyan - who's on a one-year deal - it could be a clean sweep.

Need an Endy Chavez? Make me an offer. Want a lefty starting pitcher? Seattle has two available, Erik Bedard and Jarrod Washburn.

We'll throw in Miguel Batista for free.

Got a deal in mind? Let's hear it. Heard a good rumor - or want to start one? - post it here.

Anything you write will be deeper than most anything they'll come up with in SoCal today. Wet sun worshipers are staggering around, looking skyward and weeping.

Much of the discussion amongst Mariners fans and the media has started to turn to possible trades of several people. Columnist John McGrath discussed this in today's column in the News Tribune, saying the Mariners need to clean house. Larry also had a story which discusses similar ideas. And not to be left out, I also did my weekly segment with KJR's Ian Furness where we also discuss that similar idea.

One thing I think I failed to mention when talking about Yuni Betancourt, and his trade value. Yes, the Mariners have to play him as not devalue him, but at the same time playing him, also on some level allows Betancourt to believe that his way of playing the game is acceptable.

If you are Don Wakamatsu what do you do? You bench Yuni for lack of focus in the field and at the plate, but then any hopes of trading him and getting anything back for him, go down. But if you play him, you have to watch him hack at pitches out of the zone and boot routine balls in the field. And allow Yuni to think that there are no repercussions for playing that way.

By the way, here's a column on Wak from the Contra Costa Times.

So are the Mariners all set to trade and cash in the season. GM Jack Zduriencik told Fox Sports Jon Paul Morosi that he is "not in a hurry to do anything."

As for teams looking for trade help, the Philadelphia Phillies seemed like a logical suitor for Erik Bedard. But now with Brett Myers' hip injury and possible need for surgery, that need grows more.

But this is important to remember and I think something that people tend to forget - the Mariners aren't the only teams looking to dump players - particularly 2010 free agents - to pick up prospects to rebuild. The Cleveland Indians, Oakland A's, Colorado Rockies, San Diego Padres, the Arizona Diamondbacks and others will be looking to move some players. So it's not like Bedard, Jarrod Washburn, Miguel Batista, Adrian Beltre or even Russell Branyan are the only players that contenders have to choose from.

Take the Phillies: Yes, they need pitching, and yes, Bedard would help them. But so would Jake Peavy, Cliff Lee, Brandon Webb and Roy Oswalt, who could also be acquired instead. And because they need to probably pick up two pitchers, they may go for lower echelon starters like Brad Penny, Doug Davis, Chris Young or Washburn so they don't have to give up so much in return and hope that the offense - led by Raul Ibanez - can continue to put up runs.

From all reports, Zduriencik is being relatively vigilant about making sure he gets some legitimate talent in return for Bedard, which is logical. At some point, a team like the Phillies only has so much it can or is willing to give.

Obviously Bedard won't garner as much as he got from the Mariners, including Adam Jones, who is yet the subject of another feature - this one from his hometown paper the San Diego Union Tribune.

And don't think that Adrian Beltre is he only third baseman available right now for someone like the Cardinals. Cleveland's Mark DeRosa is out there, and while he isn't nearly the defensive presence Beltre is at third base. Right now, DeRosa is a much better hitter, who can also play multiple positions if needed. Even Cubs GM Jim Hendry is still trying to explain dealing DeRosa in the offseason.

I have no doubt that Zduriencik will make some moves. And I don't think any player besides Ichiro and Felix are above being dealt at this point. But people also need to be realistic in their demands of him and remember the Mariners aren't the only ones looking to trade.

Ryan Rowland-Smith was solid tonight in his second rehab start with the Tacoma Rainiers. He pitched five shut-out innings allowing three hits, striking out three and walking one. He threw 81 pitches with 54 of them strikes.

From Grant Clark's story in the News Tribune.

“Everything pretty much went the way I wanted it to go out there tonight,” said Rowland-Smith, who was placed on the disabled list by the Seattle Mariners on April 15 because of tendinitis in his left triceps. “My pitch count got a little high with (Michael) Garciaparra (in the third) and (Brendan) Katin (in the second), but besides that, I can’t complain.”

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Michael Garciaparra? The Michael Garciaparra? As in the Michael Garciaparra the Mariners selected in the first round of the 2001 draft with the 36th pick? Yes, it is the same Michael Garciaparra that was selected two picks ahead of David Wright. I seriously didn't know he was still playing ... but good for him.