What is this? Do my eyes deceive me? Can it be that, yes indeed, the Mariners actually took a series? Against the New York Yankees, winning 4-2 no less?

With their 19-15 mark against the AL East (and 14-18 mark against the AL Central) it's easy to forget sometimes that the Marienrs can actually be a quasi-decent team against the rest of the league. They're mostly just putrid versus the AL West, in which they now hold a 10-31 record against.

They key for taking the rubber game for the Yankees was pitching. Somehow, Jarrod Washburn was able to strike out a season-high nine Yankee batters in 6.1 innings. A fly-ball pitcher facing this tough Yankee line-up, you probably would've expected for jarrod to have given up nine home-runs rather than nine strike-outs. But that was not the case. Just how was Jarrod able to pitch so effectively against the Yankees, and be successful in keeping them off base? (The Yankees only got two walks.) According to the AP story, "I'm aggressive with my fastball," Washburn said. "It's like facing an All-Star team with their lineup. So maybe some guys tend to be tentative when they pitch to them. But I don't."

Ah, so that's the trick for pitching agaisnt the Yankees. Fastballs. In the striek zone. I guess it's their kryptonite or something.

Offensively, the Marienrs were lucky to squeeze by the Yankees as Randy Johnson pitched a complete-game in a losing effort. The M's scored four runs on seven hits, with Jose Lopez's 2-for-4 with 2 RBI night leading the way. This game was Lopez's first multiple-RBI game in a month. In fact, Lopez's three RBIs over the past two games are all of Jose's RBIs for the month of August.

By striking out only three times against Randy Johnson- a far cry from the 12 I predicted- it was as if the Marienrs did a role reversal with the Yankees by exhibiting patience.

Willie Bloomquist made the start at third, meaning Beltre's sore neck just may be something serious. Poor guy. He practically had to sacrifice his entire body to beat the Yankees in the first game.

The Boston Red Sox come into town fresh off the Yankees' heels. Its not as if there's any good time to face the Yankees-Red Sox back-to-back, but perhaps with a little bit of confidence instilled in them after beating New York, plus the Red Sox recent pitching struggles, the Marienrs could very well win two series before their next series versus the Angels, in which a sweep by Los Angeles is all but guaranteed.

However, tonight's pitching match-up seems so lop-sided it's unfair. Curt Schilling vers Jake Woods? Holy cow, why even play the game? Schilling's numbers on the year make a good case for the Cy Young award: 14-5 record, with a 3.84 ERA and 160 strike-outs in 180.2 innings. Over his last two starts, Schilling has allowed five runs in 14 innings, and has gotten no decisions in both of them. He;s been stuck on 14 wins for nearly all of August, and I'm sure he's a little hungry for win #15. In three career starts versus the Mariners, Schilling has a 2-0 record and a 3.12 ERA.

Even if Beltre is healthy for tonight's game, it might be more appropriat to have him ride the pine rather than play the field. Beltre has an anemic .139 career batting average against Curt Schilling, with 5 hits in 36 at-bats, with one home-run. Richie Sexson, however, has the most success of the current MArienrs, with 7 hits in 18 at-bats for a .389 average and a 1.143. So look for some big hits from Big Sexy in tonight's game.

Meanwhile, for the Marienrs, Jake Woods makes his second start as the auditions for 2007 starting rotation continue. Woods pitched pretty effectively in his most recent outing versus the Angels, pitching into the sixth and allowing only one run in an eventual 2-3 loss. For his career, Woods has an 0-1 record with a 4.15 ERA. Coco Crisp and Eric Hinske are the only Red Sox batters to have faced Woods more than twice, and they have combined to go 0-for-7.

Regardless of whether the Red Sox are from the AL East or not, I do not see the marienrs becoming victorious in this one. I predict the final score to be along the lines of 5-3, and we'll see at least one home-run from Sexson....