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Lee Pelekoudas, whose 30 years with the Seattle Mariners began as a traveling secretary and included a term as interim general manager, resigned today.

The son of a major league umpire, Chris Pelekoudas, Lee has been with Seattle since 1979, most recently as the associate general manager.

Over his career he has counseled general managers from Dick Balderson to Pat Gillick, from Woody Woodward to Jack Zduriencik.

"When I joined the Mariners in 1979 I fulfilled a dream of working in Major League Baseball. I deeply appreciate the tremendous opportunity I've had to work with some great people in a great city, and appreciate all that it has meant to me and my family for the past 30 years," Lee said.

"In particular, I want to thank Howard Lincoln and Chuck Armstrong for the confidence they have had in me over the years. I believe the organization is headed in the right direction and know it will be successful. It's now time to do the next thing."

Pelekoudas is what is known in the game - with respect - as an old school baseball man, the kind whose love of the game and those in it is admirable for its purity.

The game was better when he was part of it, and the Mariners a better organization for his years here.

He will be missed by those he touched, including many who never knew his role in helping shape their careers.
Men like Pelekoudas are the lifeblood of the sport, those whose work is done behind the limelight.

Whatever his plans now, baseball will always be part of them. It will be a better day for baseball when he returns to it.

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

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.

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

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.

Franklin Gutierrez has 14 home runs and Jose Lopez 20. Combined, the rest of today's Mariners lineup has 19.

What's amazing is that in the last six games, the Mariners have gone 5-1 and done it without Ichiro Suzuki, without much of Ken Griffey Jr. and without Adrian Beltre.

They still don't have those three players available - and now they're without Russell Branyan.

Oh, and did we mention they're facing Zach Greinke today?

Yikes!

It's Greinke vs. Ryan Rowland-Smith and the Mariners mystey offense.

You like pitching?

Rowland-Smith has come out serious, and used just 26 pitches to set the Royals down the first two innings.
Greinke? He's hit 93 mph on the radar gun, and thrown a changeup clocked at 70 mph - both for strikes.

The Royals have one hit, an opposite-field, pop fly single. The Mariners have had two base runners: Bill Hall worked Greinke for a 3-2 walk and Kenji Johjima singled with two outs.

You get the feeling if either pitcher has a bad inning, he's going to lose on tha alone. And a bad inning today might be two runs.

First mistake loses?

Alberto Callaspo hit a fly ball to left field that Michael Saunders lost in the sun - it went over his head for a gift double - and Miguel Olivo singled Callaspo home wih one out.

If he sees it, Saunders catches the ball. Now, the Mariners are down to a Cy Young Award candidate who should probably have 18 wins already.

Rowland-Smith gave up a single and a two-out walk, then an RBI single to David DeJesus - and wild-pitched home a third run.

Yikes!

Greinke rolls on

Don't look now, but Greinke has retired the last 13 Mariners and allowed just one hit in six innings.

In the seventh: Royals 3, Mariners 0

Rowland-Smith got through eight innings with 113 pitches, allowing three runs and saving the Seattle bullpen for the Angels series. Most games, he'd have been in position to win. Not today.

Saunders flied out. Franklin Gutierrez struck out. Josh Wilson grounded out.

It's a final: Royals 3, Mariners 0

Ichiro remains out with a strained calf.

Ken Griffey Jr. misses a third game with a tender knee.

Adrian Beltre has a bruised cajone.

Russell Branyan, herniated disk.

The good news is, Ichiro could return Mondoay when the Angels come in, Beltre and Griffey should be ready Tuesday - when the Mariners can expand their roster and bring up, among others, first baseman Mike Carp.

For now, however, this is the lineup:
Franklin Gutierrez CF
Josh Wilson 3B
Jose Lopez 2B
Mike Sweeney DH
Bill Hall RF
Jack Hannahan 1B
Kenji Johjima C
Jack Wilson SS
Michael Saunders LF
Ryan Rowland-Smith LHP

"I can still do that," he said.

What Branyan cannot do is swing a bat or play the game, not with a herniated disk in his back, discovered during an MRI Saturday.

The Mariners deemed it serious enough to put him on the 15-day disabled list, and both they and Branyan know the rest of his season could be in jeopardy.

"It depends how my body responds to rest and treatment," Branyan said of missing the rest of the season. "It's been bothering me since the All-Star break, and it started to affect the way I ran, the way I fielded.

"It just seemed in everyone's best interest to find out what was going on."

Branyan will be given rest and treatment for the disk problem, but knows his season might be over. That would be a shame.

Given the first chance in his career to play every day in the big leagues, he's batted .251 with 31 home runs and 76 RBI in 116 games at age 33.

At the All-Star break, Branyan was hitting .280.

That leaves the team with no one with 20 home runs and only one player, Jose Lopez, with more than 55 RBI.

A team that's won with pitching and defense is going to have to pitch better, defend with near perfection and somehow manage to score a run or two along the way.

It's Ian Snell vs. Gil Meche.

Need runs? No problem!

Franklin Gutierrez and Josh Wilson singled to open the first inning, but Jose Lopez popped out.

The rejuvenated Mike Sweeney - contract drive, anyone? - doubled both base runners home, his 25th and 26th RBI of the season.

Jack Hannahan doubled Sweeney home. Jack Wilson doubled Hannahan home.

After one: Mariners 4, Royals 0

KC comeback

Mitch Maier's single was the first Royals hit of the night, but John Buck followed it with his sixth home run.

Yuniesky Betancourt, a pest since Kansas City acquired him, drew a walk. David DeJesus flied out. Willie Bloomquist flied out. Billy Butler flied out.

More runs? Just ask!

Hannahan hit his fourth home run of the season, his third as a Mariner, into the right field seats.

Ryan Langerhans singled and, with one out, Rob Johnson homered deep into the lower deck beyond left field.

Ouch!

He got back up and talked his way into staying in the game.

Snell has his five innings and qualifies for the win, but trainers are looking him over - and he's going to feel this one later.

Miguel Batista will replace Snell in the sixth inning.

In the fifth: Mariners 7, Royals 2

Batista got through the sixth, then lost control in the seventh - giving up back-to-back singles and a walk to load the bases.

Jose Lopez led off the eighth inning with his career-high 20th home run, good for his 79th RBI.

Also, here's the update on Snell: His right arm is swollen and bruised, but unbroken.

And in the ninth: duck!
Randy Messenger gave up a home run to Mark Tehan and then was chewed out on the mound by pitching coach Rick Adair.

Next pitch: Long home run for Maier.
Messenger then got two popups and a ground ball to end it.

Russell Branyan, who has fought persistent back pain much of his career and all of this season, was pulled from the lineup Friday - and placed on the 15-day disabled list tonight.

Branyan has a herniated disc in his back and the team hopes their leading home run hitter can return by mid-September.

That means just as Ichiro and Adrian Beltre return for a run through the American League West - a trip that takes Seattle through Oakland, Los Angeles and Texas - Branyan will miss all of it.

For now, Jack Hannahan, a third baseman by trade, will play first base.

With Branyan going on the DL, the team recalled reliever Chris Jakubauskas from Tacoma.

On Tuesday, when rosters expand, the Mariners will bring up a handful of minor league players - from Brandon Morrow to Garrett Olson.

Without him, the Mariners have only one player with as many as 55 RBI, Jose Lopez. Without him, their leading home run hitter is Lopez, who has 19 homers.

It makes a tough September schedule all the more difficult.