With plenty of options for the outfield and at third base, Daren Brown has Jose Lopez back at third base tonight for the simplest of reasons – Lopez makes Felix Hernandez more comfortable.

Matt Mangini will play third – maybe today – and could even get a start at first base in the last five games, but tonight he’s the designated hitter.  And, tell the truth: If Felix was more comfortable with a teammate, wouldn’t you appease him every fifth day?

As for the rookie watch, it’s continuing tonight: Justin Smoak, Mangini, Adam Moore and Michael Saunders, at your service. …

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Ken Rosenthal of Foxsports.com has posted his latest story on-line discussing the future of general manager Jack Zduriencik.

Rosenthal spoke with Mariners president Chuck Armstrong about Zduriencik’s job status.

“We’re not thinking about changing the general manager at all,” Mariners president Chuck Armstrong told FOXSports.com on Monday night.

I guess that’s a vote of confidence. With this ownership group, opinions and statuses can change quickly.

Obviously it’s been a tumultuous year for the Mariners and for Zduriencik. It starts with the Josh Lueke situation, which has been discussed and debated for weeks. But beyond that, there were the …

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With seven games left to 2010, Ichiro Suzuki has blown past the 200-hit mark he sets as a beginning goal each season, but the landmark hits may just keep coming this week.

Ichiro starts the night with 2,235 career hits – good for 160th on baseball’s all-time hits list. Ichiro is also just 12 hits behind Edgar Martinez for the Seattle Mariners franchise record, and 12 hits in seven games is a doable deed for Ichi.

They’re far different hitters. Ichiro, for instance, has leads all of baseball with 56 infield hits this season. Edgar may not have had that …

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The Seattle Mariners don’t know, but they’d like to get a feel for the Matt Mangini, who batted .313 with 18 home runs in Tacoma and played third base like a work in progress.

“He’s got to get his foot work down, and when he does that he’ll be fine,” infielder Josh Wilson said. “Whenever he has an issue, it’s usually his footwork. He has the arm, he has the glove.”

The final games of September are a small sample size on which to judge a player looking ahead to 2011, but it’s what virtually all teams do. Brining up Mangini …

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You know, of course, about the Seattle Mariners offense and how most everyone on the team not named Ichiro is batting below .250 and being rather unproductive.

Well, life isn’t all roses for the American League East-leading Tampa Bay Rays, either. First baseman Carlos Pena, for instance, is batting a Mariner-like .198. Unlike anyone with Seattle, Pena also has 27 home runs and 81 RBI – numbers that would easily lead all Mariners hitters.

With Russell Branyan out, the leading Mariner home run hitter is Franklin Gutierrez, who has 12. And Gutierrez leads all Mariners with 60 RBI.

The Mariners …

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Russell Branyan and Mike Carp are headed back to Seattle through Dallas, flying to Texas with the team, then on to Washington to be checked out by Mariners medical experts.

Carp will have an MRI on his strained right arch, while Branyan will have his ailing back examined. Bottom line? It would be a surprise if either man played another inning this season.

Even if the injuries are not serious, is this the time of season – or the kind of season – for a team to put any player at risk? No.

So the Mariners will have to decide …

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Morning has broken in St. Pete and it’s 80 degrees without trying, on it’s way to a billion – with thundershowers expected. What a region!

Daren Brown has kept Jose Lopez in the lineup, a night after Mr. Lopez swung at any pitch that remained with the ‘dome that covers Tropicana Field. An amazing lack of discipline. And he’s found spots for three rookies – Justin Smoak, Matt Mangini and Greg Halman.

Luke French will start for the Mariners, and figures to have a much tougher job on his hands than does Tampa starting pitcher James Shields. Shields has the …

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Not quite sure why, but in Tropicana Stadium they not only urge their Rays fans to show up with cowbells, they have pre-game instructions on when to ring those  cowbells.

If you’ve never seen Christopher  Walken’s Saturday Night Live sketch on cowbells, it’s well worth finding online. Watch it during a Mariners game when things go south, might cheer you up.

Well, despite those cowbells, the Mariners have to play the Rays on Hair Band Night in St. Pete, which seems like an awful lot stacked against them. Maybe you’d better start your search, find the Walken clip and keep it …

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