Well, that was a pretty decent outing from Mr. Felix Hernandez. A complete-game, two-hit shutout that snapped a three-game losing streak. That's what No. 1 starters do for teams. Yeah, he's kind of a big deal.

Felix worked nine innings allowing two hits, he walked four and had six strikeouts.

So when we met with Felix after the game, what did he want to talk about? His hitting of course.

Is that about as well as you can pitch?

“It was ok, not bad,” he said flashing a wide grin. “But I was mad because I didn’t get a hit.”

When reminded that he did work a walk in the ninth inning that led to a run, he seemed proud.

“Yeah, I worked a walk,” he said. “That was an outstanding at-bat.”

But regarding the shut-out, Hernandez seemed otherwise unimpressed with himself.

“I felt pretty good today,” he said. “All the pitches were there. I had great command after the first inning.”

But others were impressed ...

“Felix was outstanding,” Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said. “Obviously, you look for a guy of his talent to be a stop-gap guy when you go on a little losing streak and to be able to step up and pitch the way he did.”

His catcher was certainly impressed.

“It’s got to rate as one of the best performances I’ve caught,” Jamie Burke said. “Obviously all four pitches were working. He had command of everything. It was just a matter of which ones we wanted to use. There’s nothing I can say but it's fun to be back there catching when he has command of all his pitches."

But Burke had plenty to say about Felix's growing maturity.

"I saw him when he was in the minor and you could tell this kid was going to be good," Burke said. "He just needed to mature. Since I’ve been around him the last three years, it's amazing at what he believes can do and how much he trusts in stuff.

"It doesn’t seem like he’s 23 year old with his mentality out there and the way we go about our preparation before the game. He knows what he wants to do out there and he goes out and does it."

Wakamatsu thinks we're seeing some increased maturity following his loss to the Angels when they stole five bases off of him and Wakmatsu chided him in the media after the game game and had a private meeting the next day.

"I saw a difference when we talked to him after the Anaheim game," Wakamatsu said. "I think it just struck a nerve with him about going out and competing the right way. Ever since then, he comes ready to pitch, he's focused."

Call it a challenge if you will.

We talked about it since spring training, everyone talks about how good he can be," Wakamatsu said. We talked about our expectations and his expectations now. It has a lot to do with the little things -- controlling the running game, becoming more efficient, it's not just going out and competing. It's trying to be more intelligent. And from that point, I've seen a different pitcher. I've seen a guy that comes out and is ready to compete for his team. It's tough for a 23 year old, to ask him to mature over night."

Since the Angels game, which is five starts, Felix is 3-0 with a 0.72 ERA (3 ER, 37.2 IP) with 34 strikeouts.

There was no doubt Wakamatsu was going to let him pitch the ninth. Felix had only thrown a 100 pitches, but when he walked Kevin Kouzmanoff with two outs, Wakamatsu was going to take Hernandez out if he hadn't retired Brian Giles to end the game.

Hernandez of course had other ideas.

When asked about if he knew he needed to finish Giles or risk coming out, Hernandez snapped his head around.

“Huh? Huh? Hell no,” he said with a grin. “Not till I was ready.”

So there were no looks to the dugout in the ninth inning?

“For what?” he said. “Nobody was going to take me out. Nobody.”

Well, Ok, Felix.

The offense wasn't great. Gutierrez seemed pleased with his home run over the 401 foot sign. Well as pleased as the laid back Gutierrez can seem.

"I think that is as far as I have hit one," he said. "In this park, I heard that the ball doesn’t carry. I surprised myself. It was good to hit home run in that situation. It put the team up by one run."

He also made a fantastic catch in the seventh inning to rob Chase Headley of a run scoring double at least.

"It was outstanding," Hernandez said. "He’s the best in center field. He’s great. He’s got a lot of range."

Said Gutierrez: "“It was a tough play. I was playing him pretty shallow and he hit it good. I was trying to there as quick as I can and make the catch.”

Here's a few notes ...
Adrian Beltre has an eight-game hitting streak and is hitting .371 with seven doubles, three HR and 15 RBI over his last 23 games.

The Padres have now lost their last 12 straight interleague games and six straight against Seattle.

Here's a few other notes from Elias

* Padres opponents have tossed back-to-back complete games for the first time since 2002 (8/18-19) – Ohka and Colon for Montreal.

* It is the first time the Padres have been limited to two hits since 7/29/08 vs. Arizona…it’s the first complete-game two-hitter against SD since 6/17/07 (Zambrano) in a 1-0 Padres win at Chicago.

Some people call the Mariners line-up weak, but have you seen what the Padres are rolling out this game? That isn't exactly a murderers row. Felix should be making it eight innings at least.

And to keep with tradition ...

"I love ... carpet."
"I love ... desk."
"I love lamp."
"I love Batista's George Jefferson haircut."

Top of 1st
The Mariners go 1-2-3 to Kevin Correia -- pronounced Korea. No Team America jokes just yet.

Bottom of 1st
Felix walks the first hitter of the game, but gets out with a pick off.

Top of 2nd
That was a fast inning for Correia, but Kim Jong Il would have gotten through it faster.

Bottom of 2nd
Felix is a little wild. He gives up a single to Kevin Kouzmanoff, who I had a few cocktails with in Chattanooga when my alma mater made it to the national championship last fall. Felix also walks Henry Blanco, but gets out without giving up a run.

Top of 3rd.
Franklin Gut-ti-errrrez with a homer to left-center and it was hit pretty well. He has surprising power. FElix doesn't hit a homer this time up. He only does that against Johan Santana.

Bottom of 3rd
A little better inning for Felix.

Fourth inning ...
These teams don't do enough offensively to deserve separate stuff. But the Mariners did turn a pretty sweet 3-6-1 double play.

Fifth inning
LOUD NOISES!!!
The Mariners are making Kevin Correia look like an all-star. But Felix is looking like a real all-star carving up the last three hitters.

Sixth inning
I ate fiberglass insulation. It wasn't cotton candy like the guy said... my tummy itches.

I think I'm just going to keep putting up Brick Tamland quotes since nothing else is really going on in this game. I won't nominate Felix for the hustling to first award, but it's probably best to keep him off the bases.

Seventh inning
Hey, Ron. I'm riding a furry tractor.
Adrian Beltre continues to swing the bat well, clubbing a homer to left center.

Eighth inning
O, I'm sorry champ, I think I ate your chocolate squirrel.
Felix makes it through eight and I don't see anybody throwing in the Mariners bullpen. Actually at the moment they are posing for a group photo in the bullpen. So Felix should start the ninth. He's thrown exactly 100 pitches.

Mariners (30-33)
Ichiro RF
Russell Branyan 1B
Adrian Beltre 3B
Ken Griffey Jr. LF
Jose Lopez 2B
Yuniesky Betancourt SS
Jamie Burke C
Franklin Gutierrez CF
Felix Hernandez RHP

San Diego (28-34)
Tony Gwynn Jr. CF
David Eckstein 2B
Adrian Gonzalez 1B
Kevin Kouzmanoff 3B
Brian Giles RF
Chase Headley LF
Henry Blanco C
Luis Rodriguez SS
Kevin Correia RHP

Erik Bedard just got done throwing a side session. Not sure what to make of it, other than he only probably around 25 tosses which seems a little light. He was then showing trainer Rick Griffin a spot on the back of his left shoulder. Griffin examined him and then he went back into the clubhouse. I don't know what it means. But it doesn't seem outstanding. We'll know more in a little bit.

UPDATE: OK, some I'm no doctor, because manager Don Wakamatsu said Bedard should be ready to make his start on Saturday.

"He threw eight minutes no problem," Wakamatsu said.

But Bedard will throw a bullpen session on Wednesday and said that a bullpen session will be more telling as to whether or not Bedard and his shoulder are ready for to pitch in a game.

Also Kenji Johjima was taking early batting practice meaning he could be back soon.

Johjima said he's feeling no pain in the toe right now. He even did some light running. And he's not worried too much about it getting stepped on, at least by the right person anyway.

"I'm sure I'd be OK if Ichiro stepped on it, but if it was somebody like Carlos Silva that would be bad," Johjima joked.

He'll catch a bullpen session on Wednesday, run the bases and then probably to a rehab stint with the Rainiers when the Mariners return to the Northwest this weekend.

"If everything goes well, we'd look to activate him some time in the San Diego series," Wakamatsu said. "He has to be able to catch nine innings. I don't want a two catcher scenario where I have to pull him out after five innings because his toe is sore. He has to prove he can catch all nine with no problems."

Wakamatsu said Johjima would most likely catch a limited amount in one game, DH in one game and probably catch a full game.

Other notes ...

Shawn Kelley threw a 35 pitch bullpen session with no problems.

Russell Branyan is going to miss Thursday's game to attend his grandfather's funeral. He'd leave Thursday morning and miss that game and then return on Friday and play Friday night.

Rob Johnson attended the funeral of his mother-in-law today, but there is no exact date of his return yet.

A few links before I go down to the clubhouse.

Dustin Ackley went 5-for-6 in UNC's win today over Southern Miss, fellow Mariners draftee Kyle Seager was 2-for-4 with a homer in the win.

"I've been impressed," Wakamatsu said of Ackley. "I saw couple of the highlight hits and even before the draft I saw his tapes. What probably impressed me more than anything is he attacks. He gets into a hitting position and ready to hit and his ability to hit to all fields, but even more so with his interviews. He's a pretty mature, sharp kid."

Jayson Stark has a good story on Raul Ibanez with some statistics to show that Raul's success this season shouldn't be suspicious.

According to the good man pictured above, San Diego is German for a certain part of a whale's anatomy, of course he, then relented and offered up the history of this fair city on the beach, "I don't know what it means. I'll be honest, I don't think anyone knows what it means anymore. Scholars maintain that the translation was lost hundreds of years ago."

If you think that's the only Ron Burgundy reference you'll be getting from me in the next four days, well, I will give you my duplex in Tacoma - it has many fine, leather-bound books and smells of rich mahogany. Ok, I'll quit for the time being.

Let's get to some links and thoughts

WEST W-L PCT GB STRK L10
Texas 35-27 .565 - Lost 2 4-6
LA Angels 33-29 .532 2 Won 4 6-4
Seattle 30-33 .476 5.5 Lost 3 5-5
Oakland 27-35 .435 8 Lost 3 5-5

It's amazing just four days ago the Mariners were sitting at .500 and fans were once again debating if they have a legitimate chance to contend. And now those same fans say blow it up.

Hasn't this happened like four different times this season? I've said it on here and on the radio often, just about the time you think you have this team figured out, they do something totally unexpected -- good or bad.

At this point, I don't know what to make of this team. I don't know that any of the Mariners coaches or executives do either. They play hard. The pitching has been good, but beat up. The defense - save for the duo at second and short - has been vastly improved. The hitting has been weak and inconsistent, but good enough in stretches to win them more games than they should. So they sit in the purgatory of being between contender and pretender.

Realistically 20 some days from now, we should know more. Yes the Mariners have two of the next three series with the Padres - a team that with the exception of Adrian Gonzalez - might be weaker offensively. San Diego is also without its best pitcher. But remember, Brandon Morrow will start one of those games on a reduced pitch count. Jarrod Washburn and Erik Bedard are still ailing - though we'll find out more later today.

But besides San Diego, the Mariners will face the Arizona Diamondbacks, a team that's playing vastly better with the improved health of Stephen Drew and the steady improvement of Justin Upton. But the big test will be nine straight games on the road against the Dodgers, Yankees and Red Sox.

Optimally, the Mariners need to win six of the nine games (including six home games) against the Padres and D'Backs to help withstand the brutal road swing that faces them after that. But if Seattle plays the type of baseball we saw in Colorado, they could be reeling before the tough road swing beings

But come July 5th when the Mariners wrap up the road trip in Boston, we'll have a pretty good idea if they can keep up the hope of contending or GM Jack Zduriencik can try and deal some players to add depth to the organization.

Let's get to some links and thoughts ...

Here's Larry's story on Ichiro's improved attitude and mindset with the presence of Griffey. I've seen Griffey wrestling Ichiro to the ground. I can tell you Larry's description of Ichiro's laugh is pretty accurate. It's not quite a squeal, but it's pretty high pitched.

Most of the commentary and thoughts have centered on Brandon Morrow and his transition to a starter. John McGrath has weighed in with his thoughts. Dave Cameron of the USS Mariner also voiced his opinions.

I have three thoughts ... some of you may have heard them before.
* This whole process started down the wrong track because Mike Hargrove and later Bill Bavasi were making decisions to try and keep their jobs. When Mark Lowe got hurt, Hargrove found a replacement for a then-injured Mark Lowe. Looking at Morrow's velocity, it's easy for Hargrove to want to use Morrow in that role. He knew he needed wins and having Morrow's power fastball in the eighth could help him.

But this is where Bavasi should have stepped in and said, "Sorry, Grover, but we drafted this kid as a starter and we're going to start grooming him for it now." You'll have to find another reliever. It's not impossible, just look at the Mariners this season with Kelley, White and Aardsma. In fact, Bavasi selected White in the Rule V draft -- but I'll concede White wasn't this polished. Still, there were arms out there, that could've provide adequate set-up relief, instead of stunting the growth of one of the most prized arms of the organization. Then again, that would require Bavasi finding a value player for minimal money - not exactly something he had a track record for doing.

* All the flip-flopping back and forth, never allowed Morrow to find an professional identity for himself. He's a smart kid, prone to be introspective to a fault. And he lacks the swagger or the short memory to be a reliever. But his setbacks from minor injuries and mechanical issues never allowed him to find any comfort in himself as a professional pitcher. And since he couldn't determine it himself, the Mariners should have done it for him and kept him as a starter even when he volunteered to be a reliever. Even if he starts the season at Tacoma as a starter, and later joins the team as a reliever, the amount of innings accrued from pitching as a starter, including the extensive use of his secondary pitches would have been helpful.

* I don't think any of this would have happened to Morrow if GM Jack Zduriencik would have drafted him and oversaw his development. Of course, that brings up the question as to whether Zduriencik would have selected Morrow ahead of Tim Lincecum, which is another debate for another day.

Here's my Sunday column on Mark Teixeira hustling play on Friday and the power rankings.

How about some former Mariners links ...
Cleveland RF Shin Soo Choo is having a solid season with the Indians, but says he can improve.

* Recently released LHP Horacio Ramirez has found a new home in Triple A Syracuse, pitching for the Nats organization.

* Right-handed reliever Jon Huber, who made a few appearances with the M's and plenty with the Rainiers, was pitching in the independent leagues before being signed by the Braves.

* And John Halama, yes that John Halama, is still pitching and also signed with the Braves out of the independent leagues.

* But Halama isn't the oddest player to still be pitching, that honor would belong to Hideki Irabu, who is pitching in Long Beach along with Jose Lima.

Let's go around the AL WEST
The Texas Rangers may be in first place, but that doesn't mean the organization isn't feeling the economic pinch. And they've laid off several people this week.

Closer Frank Francisco was placed on the DL this week.

Columnist Gil LeBreton still likes the Rangers' chances.

The Los Angeles Angels also know something about injuries. Ervin Santana is being scratched from his next start. That follows up the news of Scot Shields being lost for the year, and Kelvim Escobar's latest setback.

Oh yeah, and Torii Hunter hurt his ribs plowing into the wall.

The Oakland A's took a chance on Nomar Garciaparra, but he's battling injuries again.

Around baseball
Brandon Phillips ignored a take sign and swung at a 3-0 pitch and got fined. Phillips is scheduled to make $4.75 million this season so I'm sure he can afford it.

And finally, Ozzie Guillen talking about Wrigley Field as only Ozzie Guillen can.