ok, so due to the early start and the fact that I work week-ends, I was only able to tune into a few minutes of today's ballgame. I shut off the radio after the Mariners batted in the top of the eighth with the game seemingly in hand, leading by a 6-4 margin. But, one three-run home-run by Kevin Witt- this year's minor league home-run leader and long-time journeyman with plenty of pop in his bat- later and the Devil Rays wrapped up the series, two games to one. (Didn't I say the Mariners would be lucky to escape this series with one victory? Even if the they did stifle Delmon Young's bat.)

Ok, here's the thing. Kevin Witt has been around for a while and he strikes fear in the heart of nobody. There's a reason he's leading the league in home-runs as a 30-year old, and that's the fact that he can't hit major league pitching very well. Except, of course, first-pitch fastballs right down the middle. If Witt- or anyone- can't hit those there is no reason why they should be in the majors. And it's quite clear that not only Witt can hit them, but he can turn on them.

It should be asked why Felix was kept so long in the game at that point. He had all ready given up four runs in five innings before giving up Witt's homer- hardly the dominating start that he had in his prior start versus the Angels. Witt struggles against breaking stuff- a decent off-speed curve-ball would've had him flailing. As luck would have it, Felix had bounced the last three curve-balls in the dirt as he walked Ty Wiggington before Witt. So, just when you need an off-speed pitch for Witt to flail madly at, Hargrove decided to keep Felix in, although he had all ready tossed 101 pitches in 7.2 innings and clearly was running out of gas. I understand that Hargrove lacked Rafael Soriano and Julio Mateo, and that J.J. Putz had come in the 8th inning the night before to pitch a two-inning save, but still. Obviously Felix didn't have what you needed in that situation. If ever there was a timt to bring in George Sherrill- who holds left-handed gbatters to a .145 average- or Walla Walla's Eric O'Flaherty- keeping left-handers to .225- to face the left-handed hitting Witt, this would be it.

But, no. Hargrove rolled the dice and kept Felix in. The result? A game-winning three-run home-run from the bat of Witt. I feel the actions Hargrove is taking are deliberate. HE simply must not like managing baseball in the Pacific Northwest and wants out. But instead of simply resigning and sparing the misery he is inflicting on Marienrs fans, he is attempting to subvert them from within. Why? For out of spite, it appears. I mean, how many years will it take Felix's psyche to recover from being mishandled by Hargrove like so?

Truth be told, it's not as if the Marienrs had their chances to put the game away early yesterday. They batted Tampa Bay starter Brian Stokes around for seven hits and three walks in four innings, but only scored two runs. For the game, the marienrs had 13 hits and six runs, yet only scored four times and left a ridiculous 27 runners on. If the Mariners had gotten just one key two-out hit, the team would've prevented their inevitable Hargrove-induced slide to sub-.500. But instead the Marienrs showed their patented 2006-style lack of clutch, and a bunch of ducks were left, once again, clogging up the basepaths.

And by lack of clutch I'm looking squarely at Adrian beltre. His 0-for-5 from the three-spot of the marienrs' line-up makes it hard for a team to win a game. Of course, Ichiro's 0-for-6 from the lead-off spot makes it doubly hard. Sexson may have gotten on four times with two hits and two walks, but even if he went 5-for-5, it would be hard to compensate for Ichiro's and Beltre's 0-for-11 feat, leaving 14 runenrs on combined.

And Beltre's futility continues today. As I write this, the Tigers have a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning, despite Jarrod Washburn having retired 14 Detroit batters in a row. Tha Mariners have had no problem getting on base today against Detroit starter Nate Robertson, collecting eight hits and two walks- and just one run- so far to the four base-runners that Detroit's collected so far. Of course, to no surprise, none of those base-runners have been Ichiro or Beltre, as they have combined to go 0-for-8, with Beltre striking out all of eight times.

Its time for Beltre to move back down in the order. And, dare I say, to take Ichiro out of the lead-off spot?

Oh, and by the way, R.I.P. Steve "Crocodile Hunter" Irwin.