Okay, let's face it, when you can't keep the lead and finish off a 6-5 win against the Oakalnd "A's"- which were pretty much nothing more than a field of Sacramento RiverCats wearing the green-and-gold for an evening- then you don't get to play the rest of the year.

Yes, I know that fans will be showing up this weekend for the final series of the season and they all want to see their Mariner heroes- Willie Bloomquist, mostly- in living, breathing action. But fuck it. Last night's ball-game was such a ridiculous embarrasment that I hope Mike Hargrove (who is, indeed, returning next year as manager) gave the whole team an half-hour tongue-chewing after the ball-game. And then decided to bench the team's "stars" for the rest of the season as punishment.

Yes, I know J.J. needs one more strikeout for 100. I know Ichiro is in the hunt for the league-lead in hits. Sorry, they don't get to play any more this year. I know that Betancourt, Lopez, Beltre, and Sexson all have season totlas that they'd like to add to, but fuck it. They don't get to play any more. I'd really like to see the next three games be played by the likes of T.J. Bohn, Adam Jones, Oswaldo Navarro, and all the other youngsters who could stand to gain for playing three meaningless games at the end of September. (Oh, and of course, Raul Ibanez can continue to play as he's had far too great of a season to end it three games prematurely.)

Sure, the M's could drop all three games 17-3- and my dream of seeing a season-ending series play out like this is just as likely as Hargrove getting fired- but so the fuck what. The season's over, let the kids play, and maybe some folks will be able to have some fun this weekend...

Sigh. Obviously, the big play in last night's game was the two-run drive "triple" by Dan Johnson off Putz that went under Ichiro's glove. Needless to say you can understand why I'm upset at them, but in all honsty, why was a glorified version of Oakland's AAA team able to jump out to an early 3-0 and was able to keep the game even close? Oh yeah, because Gil Meche started for the Mariners and effectively ensured he would not be returning in a Mariners' uniform this year. Six innings, three runs, five walks, seven strike-outs.. yep, sounds like a typical Meche start to me. Bye-bye Meche, you former first-rounder who always hinted at but never delivered upon a dominating skill set.

So the final series of the season against the Rangers begins this Friday, Feierabend versus Padilla. After allowing three home-runs in a loss to Chicago last week, Feierabend needs to find that composure that allowed him to toss six scorless innings prior to that debacle in his first start. It appears thatRyan could have dominating stuff if he can just harness his control. You really couldn't ask for much more from a kid who just turned 21...

It's been over five months since Padilla last faced the Mariners, tossing seven innings of one-run ball against Seattle last May. Padilla has been quite a find for the Rangers this season, as he and Kevin Millwood prvoed this season that, though your ERAs may not be the prettiest in the league, pitchers can start and win at Arlington. I wonder if the Rangers will try to spin Padilla's and Millwood's season to pick up a top-line starter during the off-season.

Anyway, Beltre- who had his 16-game hitting-streak snapped by going 0-for-4 in last-night's ball-game- has two hits in fifteen career at-bats versus Padilla, though both of those hits flew over the wall and also knocked in six runs. Sexson has also struggled against Padilla with only two hits in eleven career at-bats, though Ichiro has picked up six hits (including a home-run) in ten career at-bats against Padilla.

Of course, hopefully all those players are riding the pine this week-end and we'll see how Morse, Dobbs, and Jones do in their stead against Padilla. Yeah, right....