By taking two of three game from the fast-collapsing Tigers, the Marienrs return home after splitting their six-game road trip. This result is miles improved over the 0-11 record they had on their last trip, all against AL West inter-division rivals. Even though they weren't able to win any games against their division rivals on this latest road trip, I'll take .500 over .000 any day.

And over-all, the Mariners played a very competitive raod trip, with Monday's 6-2 loss at the hands of Detroit the only game not decided by one run or fewer. With a couple bloop hits or balls bouncing the other way (or two-out base-hits with runners on), the Mariners could've definitely had a 5-1 road trip. Still, considering that the TIgers swept the Mariners back in April- with all three games being decided by two runs or less- it is heartening for the M's to take two of three from the best team of the season, regardless of the fact that Detroit is fading as the season winds down.

By coming in top of these close games on the most recent road trip, the M's relied on outstanding pitching performances and some great defensive plays. In Tuesday's 4-3 win over the Tigers, Joel Pineiro- remember him?- dialed in 3.2 perfect innings in relief of Jake Woods after an 82-minute rain delay, striking out four. That was also the game in which Yuniesky Betancourt tagged out Magglio Ordonez, who reached on an infield single and attempted to take second on a wild throw. However, catcher Kenji Johjima was backing up first, and threw down to second where Betancourt covered and tagged out Ordonez as Magglio attempted to reach the bag. And on Wedensday, though he failed (again) to reach his tenth victory, Gil Meche tossed an effective 97 pitches over seven innings, shutting the Tigers' offense down on five hits and three walks.

How the Mariners did not win was through any clutch hitting by Adrian Beltre, who is sporting an 0-for-19 slump over his last four games. Beltre looked particularly clueless in Monday's 6-2 loss, striking out four times against Detroit starter nate Robrtson- Robertson's only strikeouts at the game. Beltre was swining so much, he was pratically swining at retun throws from the catcher back to the pitcher! To be fair, AB's two RBIs in Tuesday's 4-3 win was the difference of the game, with both runs being knocked in on infield outs with runenrs on. (I guess infield outs are acceptable with runenrs on- more than strike-outs, that is- but what do we have to do to get some mothafrickin' hits with mothafrickin' runners on?) Still, by reverting to his horrendous and clueless April-like approach to the plate, Beltre's average has dropped to .255, and his place in the batting order has dropped to eighth. Which seems appropriate.

It's now official: Howard Lincoln and the Mariners' ownership have spent $48 million on a .255 eighth-hitting third baseman!

After this successful- if not dominating- road trip, the Mariners return home to face the Texas Rangers and the Toronto Blue Jays. The Rangers- to no surprise, as they play in the same division as the M's- have owned Seattle this year, winning seven of nine games. On the other hand, the Mariners have split six games with the Blue Jays. Toronto are just two wins behind Boston, and its been 13 years since that team's finished higher than thrid place, when they won their second of back-to-back World Series in 1993. As the only thing the Mariners have to look forward to for the rest of the year is to play the role of the spoiler, wouldn't it be fun to put the kibash on the hopes of Toronto fans? The Rangers, however, have been a stronger team on the road (37-33) than at home in Arlington this year (35-36). If they had been able to dominate at home, the AL West could've been a two-team race between Texas and Oakland. But, alas.

Regardless, the Ranger's road record doesn't bode that well for the Mariners' chances on this current homestand. I envision a split of this home-stand to be the best case scenario, with winning two games of six more likely.

The Mariners get to face Texas' ace, right-hander Kevin Millwood, in the opener. In three starts against Seattle this year, Millwood has won two of them. Though he has allowed 29 hits in 19 innings, he's walked only won Mariner due to the M's hack-tastic ways. Beltre only has two hits in nine at-bats versus Millwood this season, so look for his struggles to continue. Ichiro has loved facing Millwood this year, collecting seven hits in ten at-bats, and Ben Broussard is the only marienrs to face him this year. Beltre is a career .273 hitter with one home-run in 33 at-bats, so perhpas BA might hit a single while striking out three times. Sexson has also hit Millwood well, with a .308 average and three home-runs in 26 career at-bats. Still, considering Kevin's 4-1 career won-loss record and 3.82 ERA- and their titantic struggles against division rivals this year- the Mariners ahve their work cut out for them.

Cha Seung Baek, the young Taiwanese right-hander, takes the mound for the Mariners in his first start after ending the M's 12-game road losing streak last Saturday against Tampa Bay. Though Baek may lack the experience that Millwood carries into the game- this is Baek's only eleventh career start- it may be less of a mis-match than how it appears on paper. In his three starts for the Marienrs this year, Baek has pitched very effectively, holding opponents to a .180 batting average agaisnt while maintaing a 3.12 ERA in 17.1 innings. That ERA would be a lower if it wasn't for his near 1-to-1 hit-to-walk ratio (11-to-9). Cut that walk rate in half, and Baek's ERA would be hovering around 2.00. This is Baek's first start against Texas this year, but in his only career start against Texas from back in 2004, Baek dialed in eight shut-out innings, allowing three hits while picking up the win. Indeed, out of the Rangers' current line-up, none were ableto get any of those hits off Baek two years ago. I'm not expecting for Baek to throw a no-hitter as Florida rookie Annibal Sanchez did yesterday, but look for Baek to dial in a fairly effective start.

Still, it's hard to feel optimisitc about Seattle's chances versus Millwood and the Rangers. I'm still expecting for the Rangers to come out on top, with a 6-4 score. If it wasn't for Baek's run of success this season, I would say that the Rangers could score more runs, and Baek may very well lose it in this start and put up double digits by the fifth inning. However, it could very well be a pitcher's duel, with the final score along the lines of 3-2, and the game being decided by the team's bullpen, and the Rangers' bullpen hasn't been nearly as bad as in recent years past. Still, 6-4 Rangers sounds like a safe gamble.