If we're too read anything over this past series versus the Kansas City Royals, it's that Friday and Sunday's games appear to be what to expect from McLaren. It's clear he has the utmost faith in his starting pitching, and willing to let them pitch deep into ball games, as evidenced by the fact that nobody was even warming up in the bullpen as Jarrod Washbrun came out on in the ninth inning of yesterday's 4-0 win. Washburn was all but expected to pitch the complete game, but after allowing the first two batters on, was replaced by J.J. Putz, who picked up the save by getting three outs on two pitches. There was also some aggressive baserunning being utilized in the game's strategy, with Ben Broussard galloping around the bases from first on Adrian Beltre's first-inning double, and Jose Guillen racing to third on a dropped deep fly by Royal centerfielder David Dejesus. It almost appeared that Guillen and third-base coach Carlos Garcia were considering going for the inside-the-park home run, but stopped short and ended up left on base when Broussard popped out.

McLaren is also willing to be inventive with the lineup, inserting Jose Vidro at first in place of the banged up Richie Sexson. The insertion of Vidro at first and placing Broussard in left field as Raul Ibanez mans the DH spot indicates that a piece is missing from the M's offense. As the team seems determined to keep the slow-footed Vidro in the line-up, batting right after Ichiro to ensure any potential rally is nullified by Vidro grounding into a double play, it doesn't make sense to compound things worse by having the empty bat of Raul Ibanez bat third in the line-up behind Vidro. I've been vocal of the fact that I'd prefer that Broussard was the designated hitter prior to the season started, and if the Mariners can just realize that its time to bring Adam Jones up to the big club, as his bat would provide an offensive injection that could lead to a positive carry-over to the playoffs, then Jones would be able to man the outfield position rather than a player out of place, such as Broussard, or has no clue how to play the position, such as Ibanez.

Ignore the 17-3 pasting of the M's on Tuesday. That was made possible by the weak offerings of Ryan Feierabend, who despite tossing five lucky shutout innings against the Blue Jays in his start, wasn't able to escape damage against Kansas City. Two starts prior, Feierabend allowed nine runs in the 16-1 pounding by the Reds. In two starts out of three, Ryan was lucky enough to allow 19 earned runs in four innings, an obvious sign that he needs to return to AAA and develop his skill set for the majors. But then the question would be who would replace him? A return to Cha Seung Baek's middling skill set? Who else might be available on the triple-A level? Too bad Adam Jones doesn't pitch...

Feierabend's performance marred a series of otherwise outstanding M's starting pitching. Felix Hernandez allowed two runs in eight innings, while Washburn topped that with his eight shut-out innings yesterday. Adrian Beltre's bat helped grant Washburn the victory yesterday, as he went 3-for-4 with the two-run double that knocked in Broussard and Jose Guillen. Those were the only hits Beltre picked up in the series in ten at-bats.

Now its off to always tough Oakland, where the M's face the A's top four pitchers. In a best case scenario, look for a split, but who knows how likely that is.