Not the Mariners, apparently.

Two minutes into their 98th game, Grady Sizemore homered and, yes, Cleveland is ahead yet again.

The Indians haven't trailed in this series, and the only ties have been scoreless ties, since they've outscored the Mariners, 20-3.

Jason Vargas vs. Cliff Lee, with Mike Sweeney as the Mariners designated hitter - that's three consecutive games without playing Ken Griffey Jr. at home.

The key matchup? No. 9 hitters Kelly Shoppach (.194) vs. Ronny Cedeno (.178). Can either reach the Mendoza Line by August 1?

Seattle is trying to avoid a sweep and make up ground lost the past few days in the American League West. On the scoreboard in left field, it says the Twins lead the Angels, 2-0.

That would seem more encouraging if the Indians weren't once again leading the Mariners.

In the first: Indians 1, Mariners 0

Call the game!

With two outs, Jose Lopez singled, Sweeney doubled and Lopez spent too much time jogging to score from first.

Lost opportunity? No - thanks to Franklin Gutierrez, whose two-out single scored both runners and saved Lopez some explaining.

That's 44 RBI for Gutierrez, and an actual lead for Seattle.

After one: Mariners 2, Indians 1

It's even

Vargas was cruising along, having retired nine of 10 batters, when the Indians rallied with two outs in the fourth.

Ben Francisco doubled, Jamey Carroll dropped a bloop single into left field and Cleveland drew even.

In the fourth: Mariners 2, Indians 2

Bad decision, bad baseball

Just the kind of inning the Mariners avoided before this series.

Sizemore walks - the first mistake - takes second on a wild pitch. When Vargas fields a bunt, he throws late to third to put Indians at the corners with no one out.

Shin-Soo Choo, the former Mariner, singled Sizemore home to break the tie. With his 85th pitch, Vargas hit Ryan Garko to load 'em up.

That was it for Vargas, who was replaced by Shawn Kelley. In this inning, Vargas allowed one hit and leaves with a run home and the bases loaded.

On Kelley's second pitch, Jhonny Peralta hit a grand slam.

In the fifth: Indians 8, Mariners 2

Back to the ridiculous

The home runs are flying - off Indians bats - and another game is long gone for the Mariners.

If you're counting, Cleveland has hit 11 home runs in this series and the Mariners haven't hit one yet. The Indians have scored 31 runs, so far, to the Mariners 5.

It's a reminder how small Seattle's margin for error is - when they hold a team to three runs or less, they win. When teams break away, the Mariners can't do much more than wave goodbye.

They're waving now.

In the sixth: Indians 11, Mariners 2

A little Seattle history

Two outs into the seventh inning, Michael Saunders singled off the glove of center fielder Ben Francisco, who dove for the ball but couldn't come up with it.

That was Saunders' first big-league hit.

Did the Mariners score? No. But their rookie left fielder now is in the books with a base hit.

After seven: Indians 11, Mariners 2

And in the end

Call it a lost weekend - three games, three blowout losses and the Mariners are swept in a series most would have picked them to win.

Instead, they're left to lick their wounds and hope Felix Hernandez can beat the Blue Jays tomorrow night.
Saunders, by the way, delivered his second big-league hit - and first RBI - with a single in the ninth inning.

It's a final: Indians 12, Mariners 3