Now he belongs to the ages – Ichiro Suzuki singled to open the game, his 3,000th professional hit.

“That’s a phenomenally impressive total, I don’t care where you’re playing,” GM Lee Pelekoudas said.

Unfortunately, the Mariners failed to capitalize on a first-and-third base, no one out situation.

Ichiro got to third base, but never scored. …

Speaking of trades:

Pelekoudas reaffirmed that any trade made before the Thurseday deadline will be motivated solely to improve the team, not to dump salary.

“There’s a misconception out there that

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Think about that question for a moment.

And then answer this question, “What would your answer be?”

It’s not a complete impossibility. Think about it. The Mariners have made it clear that they won’t trade players just for the sake of trading them. The whole ordeal surrounding Jarrod Washburn’s possible trade to New York is a good example. Although it has been the most speculated deal for a pitcher with a losing record that I’ve ever seen, it still might not happen. And deals for Raul Ibanez and Arthur Rhodes

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Felix Hernandez is 22-years-old and began the 2008 season with big goals – numbers beyond the 14 wins he posted last year or his career earned run average of 3.94.

Now 20 starts into the season, he has battled minor injuries and the frustration of pitching much better than his statistics show. By the numbers, Hernandez has seven wins and a 3.02 ERA.

What he has to battle is the what-ifs of Major League Baseball.

So far this season, Felix has seven no-decisions. In those seven games, he has averaged 6 1/3 innings and fashioned a 2.02

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Ichiro grounded out in his first at-bat, by his own admission nervous about needing two hits for 3,000 in his professional career – here and Japan.

Adrian Beltre, on the other hand, loves the heat and greeted the 101 degree temperatures here with his 17th home run.

Coming with Jeremy Reed and Raul Ibanez aboard, it’s a quick 3-0 lead.

Leads in Texas almost inevitably are challenged….

Bottom of the 1st …

Felix Hernandez hasn’t found a rhythm, and it’s cost him two runs already. That can happen against the top of the Rangers lineup

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The trade that was hours away on Saturday isn’t done, may never get done and in truth was never close to happening.

That’s the way rumors go this time of year, and the Mariners trade of Jarrod Washburn to the Yankees for – take your pick: an outfielder, Kei Igawa or nothing – was a dog that didn’t hunt.

How is that possible? Simple!

Take arrogant New York writers, who assume that their team can get virtually anyone for almost nothing. Add to that the near hysteria of the internet and blogs in late July, and suddenly

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Jarrod Washburn has taken the mound – for the Mariners, not the Yankees – although scouts from a half dozen teams are in the stands watching.

Watching Washburn?

No, not all of them. Some scout are watching Toronto, which has a lot of middle relief candidates, and some are watching Raul Ibanez, who doubled in his first at-bat.

But the ‘pending’ trade of Washburn from Seattle to New York hasn’t happened, and manager Jim Riggleman has been told by the front office that it’s not about to.

The deal, which was for either an

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No sooner had the Mariners lost their seventh consecutive game than the rumor of Jarrod Washburn having been traded to the New York Yankees hit the clubhouse.

"I haven’t heard a word about it," manager Jim Riggleman said.

"As far as I know, I’m still a Seattle Mariner – but let me check my phone messages," Washburn joked. "My plan is sill to start for the Mariners (Sunday)."

If Washburn is, indeed, to be traded, he’d have to be informed before any deal was completed. His partial no-trade clause includes the Yankees. Asked about what he’d

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Everyone has a theory on what interim general manager Lee Pelekoudas and the Seattle Mariners should do next – including a couple of scouts lunching in Toronto on Saturday.

Both thought Pelekoudas was probably not going to win the permanent job, but not because he shouldn’t.

"No matter who he trades at the deadline, what he’s going to get back are prospects," one scout said. "And you can’t evaluate deals like that for a year or two. He could trade Adrian Beltre and Raul Ibanez and J.J. Putz and get a bunch of young players back.

"But

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