Gosh darn early Estern start times. Due to the hour's difference and having to work, I was able to catch only a brief moment of this afternoon's ballgame. However, that moment just so happened to be the top of the fourth inning in which Richie Sexson hit a two-run home-run to give the Mariners a 3-2 lead. And that absolutely rocked, of course.

I was much closer in my prediction for today's game than I was for yesterday's. Though the Mariners did win, their 7-3 margin of victory was just two runs off my 7-5 guess. The only trend I can spot is that I should continue to state matter-of-factly that the Mariners will lose, as it appears they tend to win whenever I do that.

Having been ubale to watch and/or listen to the game, I can only piece together an analysis through the box score, which tells me that Jose Lopez's bat awoke in a big way in tonight's ballgame, as he went 3-for-5 with a two-run single in the ninth inning that broke the game open. And boy was tonight's performance needed by Jose. It broke an 0-for-15 streak, and where Lopez's first basehits since the birth of his baby daughter. Prior to today, Jose had only one RBI for the month of July- hardly All-Star numbers. (In comparison, he had 15 RBIs in June and 25 in May.)

Eddie Perez was in the line-up, but he was batting 6th. Even though he went hitless in two at-bats (plus a walk), his lack of offensive didn't prevent a Mariners loss. Adrian Beltre went 2-for-4, with an RBI single knocking in Ichiro in the first to give the Mariners an early 1-0 lead. Beltre was also hit by a pitch in the ninth inning, when the Mariners scored four runs off the Indians' wanna-be closer.

And for the second time this season, the Mariners took two of three against the Indians on the road at Jacobs Field. Now its on to Baltimore, where the mercury is supposed to be in the triple digits the three games the Mariners are to play there. The Mariners took two of three against Baltimore at Camden at the end of April (in which Beltre hit his first home-run of the season). However, I'm not sure how the sweltering heat will affect the M's offense, which seemed fairly subdued during the Cleveland series, despite winning two of three.

Gil Meche is taking the hill for the Mariners tomorrow night, looking to rebound from his worst outing of the season in last week's 12-3 trouncing at the hands of the Blue Jays. There is no reason to indicate Meche should pitch anotehr poor outing against the Orioles: it had been nearly two months between outings in which Meche struggled as bad, and he has been dynamite against the Orioles so far this season. His 0-2 record belies the numbers he has accrued against Baltimore: in 12 innings, Meche has allowed 12 hits, four earned runs, five walks, and 13 strikeouts (inclduing a season high 10 on May 25) for a 3.00 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. It's just that the Mariners have scored a whopping two runs for Meche in those two losses.

Even with those two losses, Meche enjoys a 4-2 career record versus Baltimore, with a 3.17 ERA, striking out 46 in 65 innings. The batters in the Orioles line-up who have hit Meche well- including Ramon Hernandez (.353 in 17 AB), Melvin Mora (.333 in 15 AB), and Jay Gibbons (.286 in 14 AB)- all have singles to show for it. The only Oriole to hit Meche for power is Brian Roberts, who along with a .500 average in 20 at-bats has four doubles off Meche. Other than that, he has mananged to control the Orioles' offense quite handily.

Adam Loewen, who made his major-league debut against the Mariners in a blow-out 14-4 Orioles victory last May 24, takes the mound for the Orioles. In that outing, Loewen K'd Sexson (which isn't hard) and gave up a hit to Kenji Johjima, so his experience with the M's is limited indeed. Loewen did throw five innings of one-run ball in his last start, picking up his first win, but that was against the Kansas City Royals, so take that with a grain of salt. It appears that the Orioles are being careful with this promising young pitcher, as he has only pitched into the sixth twice out of his nine starts. Still, there is every possibility that Loewen can 'Jeremy Sowers'-ize the Mariners, pitching a 1-0 two-hit shutout.

In the end, I'm saying that the M's will drop the opener of the series 4-2, not because Meche is going to get out-pitched, but moreso because the Marienrs have struggled to score runs against the Orioles in games that meche has started. With their offense struggling to score runs and the triple-digit heat, I think the factors will be in Baltimore tomorrow.

Watch me proved wrong....