Going into the Cleveland series, I was a little worried about how the Mariners would do. Early results on the season show the Indians to be pounding the tar out of the ball, as the line-up shows no decline from the one that out-scored its opponents by 88 runs last season. As long as the Indians' pitching is decent rather than horrid as it was last season, Cleveland looks to be a strong competitor in the AL Central.

And the Indians had a pretty good pitching effort in today's abbreviated ballgame, as Paul Byrd came one strike away from holding the Mariners hitless through five innings- which would've made it an official ballgame- before the weather worsened and Jacobs Field was enveloped in whiteout conditions. After being postponed for the third time, the game was eventually called, to be made up as part of a day-night doubleheader tomorrow.

You have to feel sorry for the fans. No way should they have been put through three delays in such lousy conditions. But, due to the unbalanced schedule, this is the only time the M's are going to be passing through Cleveland this season, and as such, the games need to be played regardless of what the weatehr forecast this weekend is. There is always a chance that one or more games may just canceled in their entirety, but if either team is in the hunt for a play-off spot later on in the season- which is very possible, considering the quality of these teams and the divisions they play in- the Mariners would have to squeeze in a quick trip to Cleveland at some point later on in the summer. That would use up a scheduled off day, which are very important for teams' health as theseason drags on.

Its a good thing the game was canceled, so none of the ugly stats will go against the Mariners. Starter Horacio Ramirez had given up six walks in four innings- exactly half of his 98 pitches were balls- which is enough for me to doubt the good feeling I had about his promsising spring. (Remember- spring training stats don't mean anything!) But how much of that was due to having lousy mechanics, and how much was it being unable to grip the ball due to inclement weather? And not being able to watch the game I wonder if any of the Indians' hits- such as Jhonny Peralta's bases-clearing double- was assisted by the M's fielders being unable to see the ball.

Whatever, it doesn't matter. The game was called, and will be made up tomorrow. Hopefully with vastly different results.