Endy Chavez is gone for the year, Ken Griffey Jr. has a tender knee and Jose Lopez remains in Venezuela on bereavement leave.

That means Wladimir Balentien, Mike Sweeney and Chris Woodward are in the lineup and Jason Vargas is the starting pitcher.

Go ahead - pretend you saw the makeup of this team in spring training.

Fresh off their 18th come-from-behind victory, the Mariners will likely again be scratching for runs - although Arizona starter Billy Buckner's ERA (7.36) certainly looks inviting.

A win tonight and Seattle will be a .500 team.

And we're off.

Creating a run

Excuse Mr. Vargas for being a bit dazed by the first inning.

After giving up two singles, he got the second out of the inning on a foul popup behind the plate. When catcher Rob Johnson made the play, however, Jason Upton took off from first base - and Johnson threw wildly to second base.

The throw allowed Felipe Lopez to score from third base.

Vargas quickly got the third out, but trails by a run scored on a foul out to catcher. Go figure.

In the first: Diamondbacks 1, Mariners 0

Another Mariners comeback

Ah, those scrappy little Mariners!

Yuniesky Betancourt - gasp- drew a walk, and Ichiro singled him to third base. When center fielder Gerardo Parra let the all get by him, Yuni kept running and scored, with Ichiro winding up at second base.

Ichiro got to third on a ground ball, but was left there when Adrian Beltre struck out and Mike Sweeney lined out.

After three: Mariners 1, Diamondbacks 1

Wladdy likes left field

Before the game, GM Jack Zduriencik gave Balentien a little pep talk, telling him he should seize the opportunity of starting again.

So far, so good. Balentien, who singled in the second inning, homered in the fourth - his second of the season.

After four: Mariners 2, Diamondbacks 1

Two won't win this one

With no margin for error, Vargas made one to open the seventh inning.

On a first pitch fastball, outfielder Justin Upton hit his 13th home run of the season to tie the game.

Like Jarrod Washburn a night earlier, Vargas has pitched a marvelous game and may wind up having no decision as a reward. He's allowed one earned run, and it's tied.

In the seventh inning: Mariners 2, Diamondbacks 2

Little ball

Betancourt opened the seventh with an infield single into the hole at shortstop, and took third base when Ichiro banged the ball off Buckner's glove and into short right field.

Clay Zavata came in for Buckner, but on a 3-2 pitch hit Russell Branyan, loading the bases with no out.

Batting for Beltre - he left the game after limping into the dugout - Ronny Cedeno bunted, but Arizona got the force at home.

Sweeney hit a fly ball to the warning track in left, and Ichiro came home with the go-ahead run. Gutierrez singled up the middle, scoring Branyan.

Two run lead with two innings to go? Figue Sean White for one, David Aardsma for one.

After seven: Mariners 4, Diamondbacks 2

That helps!

Seattle seems to have blown this game open, with Betancourt's two-run double and a double play that allowed a third run to score.

Looks like White will get the chance to finish this one, and Aardsma will be saved for another day.

After eight: Mariners 7, Diamondacks 2

It's never simple

Well, they won it but not quite as easily as they might have.

With White pitching, Arizona scored on a walk, error by Ronny Cedeno on a double play grounder and an RBI single.

Enter Aardsma, who struck out two, got a pop fly and now has not allowed a run in 23 of his last 24 games.

That works.

Beltre, by the way, left the game with a stiff left shoulder. He's day-to-day.
Aren't we all?

Final score: Mariners 7, Diamondbacks 3

Opportunity came knocking for Wladimir Balentien on Saturday, when the Mariners placed outfielder Endy Chavez on the DL and said Balentien was their left fielder.

For now.

With Chavez out for the year with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, Balentien's 'shot' at full time play could be as short as four or five games.

After batting .202 in 243 at-bats last season - and not adjusting to the fact that he was striking out 79 times, most often on breaking pitches, the Mariners won't give Balentien the rest of the season.

If he wants to play beyond the next week, he'll have to earn the time. Batting .223 with one home run and six RBI in 112 at-bats?

That won't cut it.

Balentien needs to produce, and quickly, or his tenure as the regular left field will be a brief one.

Options? There are players in Tacoma - and Seattle - quite willing to take on left field. They include Mike Carp, Ronny Cedeno and a handful of young Class AAA outfielders.

No matter what you hear anywhere else, Balentien has not shown the Mariners coaching staff he can be the answer in left field - at the plate or in the grass.

If he doesn't seize this opportunity now, he may not get another.

Josh Wilson, the middle infielder claimed on waivers the other day, is not on th field for extra batting practice - but Ronny Cedeno, Mike Carp, Chris Woodward and Wladimir Balentien are.

What's it mean? It's possible that, for now, the Mariners will simply sub Wilson into the 25-man roster spot of Endy Chavez, who's right knee is a mess and who is certainly headed for the disabled list.

In left field, the Mariners can play Balentien, Ken Griffey Jr., Cedeno and possibly Carp.

No lineup posted yet - unusual for Don Wakamatsu - so the team may still be mulling a decision.

One thing is certain: the victory on Friday has this team in a buoyant mood, even for early BP.

A team hanging around the .500 mark and playing baseball worth watching, any dramatic come-from-behind wins are golden. This isn't an offense that comes back from three-run deficits often, and few teams do it in the eighth inning or later.

Had the Mariners lost that game and Chavez on the same night, it's hard to imagine them laughing and yelling at one another from the outfield this afternoon.

Credit Jay Yencich and the USS Mariner for having this first, but former first-round pick Phillippe Aumont has been promoted Double A West Tenn, according to this press release. It was later confirmed the Mariners in today's minor league report.

Aumont had 12 saves for Class A high desert, and 35 strikeouts in 33 1/3 innings pitched.

Here's a few other notes.

* The Mariners Northwest League affiliate, the Everett AquaSox open the 2009 season tonight at Vancouver (RHP Taylor Lewis is scheduled to start on the mound).
* High Desert OF James McOwen extended his hitting streak to 30 consecutive games last night, longest in the minors this season, and 5 away from tying the California League record.

Tacoma Box Score
West Tenn Box score
High Desert Box Score
Clinton Box score

Mariners Organizational Leaders
BATTING TOP 10 (minimum 2.7 PA/team game)
BATTER CLUB AVG G AB R H HR RBI
Liddi, Alex HD .337 65 261 51 88 16 58
Dunigan, Joseph HD .336 55 217 41 73 16 56
Diaz, Juan HD .330 58 227 38 75 2 22
Gillies, Tyson HD .329 60 237 53 78 4 21
Shelton, Chris TAC .328 58 235 41 77 8 51
McOwen, James HD .322 55 214 32 69 2 35
Morse, Mike TAC .319 59 232 34 74 8 47
Nunez, Luis CLI .313 56 198 27 62 0 17
Scott, Travis HD .313 50 176 32 55 11 33
Redman, Prentice TAC .305 55 220 45 67 11 29

HOME RUNS
Dunigan, Joseph HD 16
Liddi, Alex HD 16
Halman, Greg WTN 13
Peguero, Carlos HD 13
LaHair, Bryan TAC 12

RBI
Liddi, Alex HD 58
Dunigan, Joseph HD 56
Shelton, Chris TAC 51
Morse, Mike TAC 47
4 others tied at 39.

STOLEN BASES
Mendez, Maximo CLI 19
Stocker, Mel WTN 19
Gillies, Tyson HD 16
Serrano, Terry CLI 15
2 others tied at 12.

PITCHING TOP 10 (minimum 0.8 IP/team game)
PITCHER CLUB W-L ERA IP H BB SO
Pribanic, Aaron CLI 6-3 2.36 61.0 42 18 41
Lorin, Brett CLI 4-4 2.45 80.2 52 20 82
Kasparek, Kenn CLI 4-4 2.71 66.1 60 14 71
LaFromboise, Bobby CLI 4-2 3.02 59.2 55 11 54
Souza, Justin WTN 4-6 3.40 55.2 51 13 48
Fister, Doug TAC 4-0 4.01 58.1 69 4 49
Adcock, Nathan HD 4-3 4.10 74.2 76 29 48
Hensley, Steven HD 6-2 4.11 70.0 77 22 49
Hume, Donald HD 7-3 4.42 73.1 81 31 54
2 others tied at 4.54.

WINS
Hume, Donald HD 7
Hensley, Steven HD 6
Pribanic, Aaron CLI 6
4 others tied at 5.

SAVES
Messenger, Randy TAC 13
Aumont, Phillippe WTN 12
Flores, Ruben CLI 12
Varvaro, Anthony WTN 6
Thomas, Justin TAC 4

STRIKEOUTS
Lorin, Brett CLI 82
Kasparek, Kenn CLI 71
4 others tied at 54.