David Aardsma

In the first game I have attended since moving back to Seattle, the Mariners rallied from a three-run deficit to defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-3.

Ken Griffey Jr. hit a two-run pinch hit homerun in eighth inning to tie the game and Rob Johnson had the go-ahead RBI as the Mariners earned a victory in their MLB-leading 27th one-run game.

The Diamondbacks drew first blood, scoring two runs in the third inning after a costly throwing error by Mariners SP Jarrod Washburn. A Miguel Montero solo homerun in the fourth inning gave the Diamondbacks an early 3-0 lead.

I had no idea that a series win in Anaheim could be this depressing. Nevermind the fact that the Mariners should have completed a three game sweep though, let's look at exactly how they were able to take two out of three from their division rivals, the Angels.

Game One: 5-2 Mariners

After scoring three early runs, the M's took this game pretty easily. Jason Vargas showed once again that he's got the poise to be a Major League starter, and the Mariners offense was able to tally a respectable five runs against the formidable John Lackey.

The Mariners coughed up a sweep. David Aardsma had his worst outing of the year, blew his first save and exhibited the same shaky control he’s had all year, sans a dominating fastball. The bullpen and the pitching staff as a whole has been better than this all season. No need to worry.

The Mariners received an uncharacteristic power surge from Ichiro. The leadoff hitter had four hits, including two doubles and a home run. But he won’t do this often, this is unconventional, and goes against every trend in Ichiro’s career. No reason for hope.

It's quite clear that Brandon Morrow isn't doing well. This much has been obvious since he came off of the DL a little over a week ago.

The burning question is: What needs to be done about him?

Everyone has an opinion as to what the answer of this question is, and one very popular one seems to be: "Make him a starter."

When the Mariners won a game against the Red Sox, the rubber match of the series, they did so on the starting pitching of Jason Vargas, the late-inning pitching of David Aardsma, and RBI by Russell Branyan, Ronny Cedeno, and Franklin Gutierrez.

The common thread between each is that none of them were on the team last year.

Once again, Brandon Morrow was pulled from closing.

First time, he went to the DL so he was pulled. But this time, he struggled to get a save in two consecutive days. Now, he is pulled from closing.

Since coming off the DL, Morrow gave up six runs in only 1.2 innings. On the first game, he was able to get a save even giving up a run.

But in the second game against the Rangers, he gave up a walk-off two run double to Hank Blalock. And finally, he gave up walk-off two run homer to Chris Davis to lose his closing job.

Enough is enough.