It’s easy to take a player like Ichiro Suzuki for granted, like when he rolls off 10 consecutive months of hitting .300 or better – and the last month in which he didn’t hit .300, he batted .298 (September, ’08).

That streak will end tonight, because in his first 27 games in July, Ichiro has batted .246 (28-for-114).

The Mariners wouldn’t mind ending another streak – their current five-game losing streak. Felix Hernandez will likely give them the chance to do so, but his teammates will have to play defense and score runs – something they haven’t done in combination …

Read more »

Matt Tuiasosopo is back in the Seattle Mariners uniform and, with Jose Lopez still nursing a tender hamstring, he’ll start at third base tonight.

And so begins the final two-months of the season – open auditions throughout the 25-man roster of a team that seems destined to lose more than 100 games. Tuiasosopo and rookie Michael Saunders are in tonight’s lineup.

Out in the bullpen, there’s Chris Seddon and David Pauley, who will skip his next start to keep Felix Hernandez on a regular turn.And in that rotation, there’s Luke French and Doug Fister.

Coming soon: rookie catcher Adam Moore. …

Read more »

Unable to pull off a trade deadline deal, the Seattle Mariners made a four-player trade with themselves today – recalling Matt Tuiasosopo and Sean White from  Tacoma, sending Justin Smoak to the Rainiers and placing Milton Bradley on the disabled list.

The move gives the Mariners a seven-man bullpen with the addition of White, and brings utilityman Tuiasosopo back to the Mariners.

Bradley, who hasn’t played since July 26, was placed on he DL with an inflamed knee. Smoak, the 21-year-old first baseman acquired in the Cliff Lee trade, has batted .159 in 16 games with Seattle, going 1-for-12 on …

Read more »

 On the eve of the big-league trading deadline, the Mariners are on a four-game losing streak and may be the only team in baseball that doesn’t have one player rumored to be going somewhere.

Impossible? Take a look at this website. Dozens of  players rumored going here or there and not one of them is in a Seattle uniform. Thats remarkable.

As July comes to a close, the Mariners are 6-20 with two games remaining. That’s remarkable, too. The good news? The Twins starting pitcher, Scott Baker, has a 5.00 earned run average.

Of course he has eight wins, …

Read more »

The universe conspired to keep in Chicago today, but I was wiley enough to fly a 15-seat crop duster into Minneapolis, after having the taxi ride from hell this morning. Some days, nothing goes well – for the Mariners or those who follow them.

Enough of that!

Justin Smoak gets the day off after taking early batting practice and regular BP while making some adjustments. The coaching staff thought rather than throw him right back in a game, they’d give him a day to think about those slight changes.

Also, no Jose Lopez (hamstring) and no Milton Bradley (knee), and …

Read more »

Sporting the second-worst road record (15-35) in the American League – God Bless Baltimore! – the Mariners are 0- 3 on their current trip, with one game left in Chicago and three remaining in Minnesota.

What the Mariners could use is a nice long series against, well, a team like Seattle. They won’t meet one until they play the Orioles in Baltimore on Aug. 14. By that time, who knows which team will have the better record?

Given that, they’ll do the best they can, and tonight right-hander David Pauley will try to contain the power bats of a surging …

Read more »

Jose Lopez (hamstring) cant’ go, Russell Branyan (back) needed a breather after missing all of last week and Milton Bradley (knee) is still hurting.

So the heart of the Seattle lineup has been altered again, with Casey Kotchman, Franklin Gutierrez and Michael Saunders batting in the 3-4-5 spots in the order against the now-crafty right-hander, Freddy Garcia.

The issue, of course, is that Kotchman is batting .221, Gutierrez .245 and Saunders .236.

Here’s the lineup:

• Ichiro Suzuki, RF
• Chone Figgins, 2B
• Casey Kotchman, 1B
• Franklin Gutierrez, CF
• Michael Saunders, LF
• Justin Smoak, DH
• Josh Wilson, 3B
• Rob Johnson, C

…

Read more »

It’s not quite that no one is calling the Seattle Mariners as Saturday’s trade deadline approaches.

Jack Zduriencik has taken and made calls this week, but one indication of the kind of team he’s put together in 2010 is that no one is offering much of value for anyone on the 25-man roster. Teams say they have asked about minor league talent like Michael Pineda, but that the Mariners aren’t  interested.

What about David Aardsma, Casey Kotchman, Jose Lopez … ?

If Zduriencik wanted to eat salary and accept the return of a low-level prospect, he could likely move all …

Read more »