Ken Griffey Jr.

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.

Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu told the media that he thought Ken Griffey Jr. was starting to get his groove back. Last night was the perfect indication that he was right.

Ken Griffey Jr. slammed a pinch-hit home run in the eighth to tie the game at three. It was a classic shot by Junior that sent the Safeco crowd into a frenzy. He hit it seven-rows deep over the right-centerfield wall on the first pitch off D'Backs reliever Tony Pena

The San Diego Padres defeated the Seattle Mariners 4-3 Thursday afternoon in the rubber match of a three-game series. The Padres (29-36) were able to avoid a three-game sweep with the mid-day sun beaming down on the crowd of more than 25,000 at Petco Park.

The visiting Mariners (32-24) got out to an early lead when Ken Griffey Jr. jolted a ball deep to left-center field to plate Mike Carp for the 1-0 lead. Young Brandon Morrow started his second game since returning from the DL for the Mariners.

When the Seattle Mariners signed Ken Griffey Jr., I was hoping for at least a 20 HR, 85 RBI season. I felt if the Mariners used him as their everyday DH, he could produce moderate power, something the Mariners have not had since Edgar Martinez left.

<!--StartFragment-->

The Mariners started off the 2009 red-hot and gave us all a glimmer of false playoff hope when they were a top the AL West at one point with a 15-10 record. We seemed to forget this was a team that was supposed to be in a full-blown rebuilding mode.

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.

When Randy Johnson left the game in the 6th inning last night, a great moment occurred. As I watched history unfold, I started to think about all of the other great moments that he's had in his long career.

I quickly realized that there have been way too many to count, which is fairly common when dealing with someone who's had a career like Randy's.

With Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez the latest superstars to fall into the steroid cloud, everyone is now looking at the current group of young stars trying to find the one to break the 'roid records and restore a sense of legitimacy to baseball's record book.

Why look for someone down the road when baseball has a future hall of fame player winding down a stellar career without needing, much less using the juice; which seemed to flow like Kool-Aid in clubhouses around baseball for far too long.

From what games I have watched, the Seattle Mariners are a much different team than last year.  They are playing "small ball", putting a lot of pressure on opposing teams, moving the runner over, and stealing the extra base when they can. All of these components make for an entertaining team to watch.