The Angels are in tune up mode for the post-season, looking a little ahead and not paying much attention to the Seattle Mariners of the world.

The Mariners would love to change that in the next three games, but they'll have to do it without their best lineup tonight.

No Ichiro, no Beltre, no Brayan, no Griffey.

Instead, the Mariners field their scrappy lineup the one with two Wilsons - Josh and Jack - leadoff hitter Franklin Gutierrez, cleanup hitter Mike Sweeney and left fielder Ryan Langerhans.

Luke French, meanwhile, will try to hold off a lineup in which the first six Angels are batting .300 or better.

The Mariners can win, they insist, with their game plan of pitching and defense early, a couple of runs late.

It's French vs. Joe Saunders.

Make him work

The Mariners couldn't score in the first inning, but they made Saunders work hard to stop them.

One of the prongs of the '09 Seattle offense is to make the opposing pitcher throw a lot of pitches, and with a single and two walks in the first, the Mariners got Saunders to throw 25 of them.

It may pay off later.

Trouble in the third

French gave up a single to Chone Figgins, hit Bobby Abreu and then wild-pitched both runners up a base - all with no one out.

Torii Hunter flied to right, just deep enough to get Figgins home. Vladimir Guerrero then hit one out to center field - deep enough to get two more runs in.

Juan Rivera singled and Kendry Morales doubled, and none of the balls hit in the inning was hit softly. Howie Kendrick grounded out for a fourth run.

In the third: Angels 4, Mariners 0

Outta the way, small fry

The Mariners haven't been much more than a speed bump tonight against the Angels.

Hunter doubled, Guerrero singled and Juan Rivera hit his 21st home run.
The Mariners offense? The last 10 batters in a row have gone down quietly.

In the fifth: Angels 7, Mariners 0

French was gone after five, Chris Jakubauskas worked a scoreless sixth and then walked Hunter to open the seventh.

Mr. Guerrero then hit an upper deck shot into left field, his third multi-home run game of the season - and the 39th of his career.

In the seventh: Angels 9, Mariners 0

The Angels put them in their place tonight - which at the moment is 11 games back in the American League West.

It's a final: Angels 10, Mariners 0

Carlos Silva will pitch an inning or so of relief today - his first since April - but he's going to be a Frog, not a Rainier.

The Mariners are sending Silva to Everett, not Tacoma, in part because they don't want to jeopardize the Rainiers run for the post-season.

"In Everett, we can control the situation a little better," manager Don Wakamatsu said. "Carlos will throw an inning, then Thursday throw again - maybe in Tacoma, maybe in Everett - and then one last time on Sunday."

Then, it's back to the Seattle bullpen for September.

The lineup is up and Ichiro isn't in it, though the team says tomorrow is the day he'll play.

No Ken Griffey Jr., no Adrian Beltre, who are both taking batting practice - as is top draft pick Dusin Ackley, who formally OKed his contract today.

Ackley took fly balls in the outfield, schmoozed with new teammates and was immediately taken under the wing of Mike Sweeney, who showed him around.

Beltre comes off the disabled list tomorrow, Griffey's left knee may allow him back in, but Ackley is headed for Arizona and instructional league, then the Arizona Fall League.

Bottom line: No offensive reinforcement today against the Angels. Here's the lineup:
Franklin Gutierrez CF
Josh Wilson 3B
Jose Lopez 2B
Mike Sweeney DH
Bill Hall RF
Jack Hannahan 1B
Jack Wilson SS
Rob Johnson C
Ryan Langerhans LF
Luke French LHP

Ichiro is stretching and running in right field, with manager Don Wakamatsu, a trainer and translator on hand should he suddenly need mouth-to-mouth.

On the sidelines, some 30 yards away, are six Japanese photographers and a couple of television camera crews, recording each smile, wince and wink.

We forget, occasionally, that Ichiro remains a larger-than-life figure in Japan, and that a dozen Japanese writers follow him around daily - only marginally interested in what the Seattle Mariners do unless it directly impacts Ichiro.

Ichiro means a great deal to the Mariners, and to their fans. He may mean more in Japan.

Will he play tonight? He's running harder now than he has in a week, and after missing seven games he's getting more than a little antsy.

Wakamatsu, on ther other hand, doesn't want to be the manager who rushed Ichiro back, saw his outfielder tear a muscle and miss getting 200 hits for the first time in his career - which is how it would be viewed if Ichiro hurt himself.

Ichiro's now running the bases at about speed, working on his turns. Just in time, a third camera crew has arrived.
No decision yet. Smart money is on waiting another day. If Ichiro wants to play, however, he'll play.

A few weeks ago, it seemed impossible to think the Tacoma Rainiers were a postseason caliber team. They were 7 1/2 games out of the Pacific North Division of the PCL and any playoff chances were fading with each game. To make matters worse they were embarking on a nine-game road trip.

But what happened, Tacoma swept the road trip taking four games from Fresno and five from Portland to improve to 70-66 and skip past Colorado Springs (69-65) into first place in the division.

Here's Ian Ruder's story from Sunday's win where the Rainiers beat Padres pitching prospect Aaron Poreda, who was acquired from the White Sox in the Jake Peavy deal.

The Rainiers open their final homestand of the season today at Cheney Stadium. They will host the Salt Lake Bees for a four-game homestand, and wrap up the homestand with a big four-game series against Colorado Springs that could decide the division winner.

Garrett Olson is scheduled to start tonight for the Rainiers.