There is no denying the fact that a sweep of the Red Sox- the first by the Marienrs since 1989- is a beautiful thing. As long, of course, that you're not a Red Sox fan.

If only it could continue, but the unbeatable Angels are the next to come to town. After the M's horrendous 0-11 road trip in which they couldn't buy a win from their divison rivals, they returned home and immediately take five of six from the Red Sox and the Yankees, who are battling it out for the AL East.

Some could say that the M's were lucky to play the Yankees when they did- fresh off an their own emotionally exhausting five-game sweep of the Red Sox followed by a cross-country flight. But the Mariners dominated the Red Sox in the weekend series sweep, culminating in Cha Seung Baek's two-hitter that was tossed in yesterday's 6-3 win. Without any info to back it up, I believe that's the fewest number of hits this vaunted Boston Red Sox offense has been kept to all season.

In fact, as a team over the past three games, the Mariners' batted .323 and slugged .495. The Mariners' attack was led by Raul Ibanez, who batted .600 in ten at-bats and slugged 1.000, including yesterday's Richie Sexson impression by hitting a fifth-inning grand slam. Yuniesky Betancourt also helped out with the bat, hitting .417 and slugging .917, with three of his five hits going for extra bases. After missing the first game with lingering effects from his dramatic slide that broke up a double-play against the Yankees on Thursday, Adrian Beltre batted .286 and slugged .857, with both of his hits going for extra bases.

For Red Sox fans, this season was apocalypse now-ish.

It would be nice to continue playing winning baseball against the Angels, but the Angels will arrive carrying the Mariners' kryptonite, being the fact that Los Angeles is on the west coast, and as such the M's can't beat an American League team from the west coast. The last time the Mariners won a game versus the AL West was June 10, against the Angels, over two months ago.

The first Angels pitcehr the Marienrs face is Kelvim Escobar, who dominated the Mariners for seven innings of one-run ball during that disastorous road trip. Despite that recent dominance, Ichiro has been hitting Kelvim pretty well this year- 5-for-12 for a .417 average- as is Jose Lopez- .400 in ten at-bats.

Taking the hill for the Mariners is Felix Hernandez, who has lost three consecutive decisions nad hasn't won since a 2-1 triumph over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on August 2. Whn Felix last faced the Angels, he allowed three runs in six innings of a 3-0 loss, and he has a 1-2 record and 3.74 ERA in 21 innings versus the Angels this year. Although Felix has dominated Garrett Anderson (.125 average and three strike-outs in 8 at-bats) and Mike Napoli (.167 average and three strike-outs in six at-bats), he needs to keep the ball away from Orlando Cabrera who's scorched Felix to the tune of .500 in ten at-bats.

Considering that Escobar has a career 5-6 record and 4.85 ERA against the M's, it's not as if the Marienrs can't beat Kelvim. It's just necessary for the top of the Mariners' line-up to get the ball rolling if the M's are going to have a chance.