If the Seattle Mariners thought last night was difficult for its hitters wait until tonight when they face Barry Zito.

Tim Hudson pitched the way he should have in the playoffs last fall as he dominated the Mariners through eight chilly innings.

Erubiel Durazo, lurking unnoticed in the number six spot in the batting order provided all the offense the A’s could muster by driving in all five runs in the 5-0 whitewashing of Seattle.

Meanwhile The Giants continued to pound the Padres and the Red Sox got long relief help from Steve Woodard and Brandon Lyon to squeak out a 9-8 win over,yes, Tampa Bay in 16 innings.

A lot more to talk about, just click below.

Now the A’s fans will get to experience what it is like to root for the Yankees. The A’s made it look easy last night against Seattle.The Athletics, armed with a deep starting rotation pose more trouble for Seattle tonight. If that isn’t bad enough, Seattle gets Mark Mulder on Thursday.

Yes, American league fans get ready for what is ahead for 2003.

Freddy Garcia looked capable at times, but still isn’t the complete pitcher Seattle needs to be their ace. Jamie Moyer must go six tonight and then turn it over to Arthur Rhodes and Jeff Nelson for the Mariners to win.

Don’t count on it being easy.

Terrence Long went from first to third twice, Mark Ellis sparkled at second base, and Ramon Hernandez had a hit and run single plus another nice hit.

But the stars of the evening were Hudson and Durazo. The DH probably should hit higher in the line up, but who do you move out, plus Ken Macha doesn’t want two lefties back to back (Chavez hits fourth).

Chan Ho Park continues to struggle. What has happened to the former Dodger? If this trend continues (getting rocked virtually every start), Texas should try to cut their losses and move him back to the NL. Problem is, he makes three times what Livan Hernandez made in SF, and the Giants had to give him away, AND pay 99% of his salary.

John Thomson is just as shaky as Park and he pitches tonight against Ramon Ortiz in Anaheim. Orel Hershiser spent an hour before the game last Friday night talking with Thomson on the field at Pac Bell Park. Thomson looked totally confused during that performance, so who knows what to expect from the righty tonight.

As much improvement that the Rangers have made at the back end of their staff, their starters are very poor.

Nice performance by Mickey Callaway for Anaheim. He bears watching because he got his feet wet last September and wasn’t a total disaster.

The Angels hit the ball well Tuesday except for Troy Glaus who looks like he has a significant problem with his wrist.

Rocco Baldelli is a rookie centerfielder with the Devil Rays. He made one of the best throws I’ve seen in along time in last night’s marathon game. With the leading run (Trot Nixon) heading to the plate, Baldelli charged a single to center and threw a strike to the plate (a laser throw) to cut the runner down. Tremendous play.

Bobby Howry, Alan Embree, Mike Timlin, Chad Fox and Dustin Hermanson would make me very nervous if they were my closers. Ramiro Mendoza might be the best the Red Sox have

to finish the game.

Derek Lowe might not need much help today. His sinker is sinking and I’d expect a dominating performance from him today.

Jeff Kent is instant offense for Houston. He has given that line up MVP credibility and will have a big year. If Houston can get some pitching other than from their big two, they will be tough to beat.

The Mets look like they have three Jeremy Giambi’s playing the outfield. Al Leiter is a big game pitcher and today might be one of the biggest games of his career as he tries to carry the Mets on his back in the game against Chicago. I wouldn’t count him out.

Jason Schmidt did his thing against the Padres, but the Giants always find a way to win in San Diego. Tonight might be a closer game because Damian Moss has looked very inconsistent this spring. He’s a breaking ball, change up pitcher and it takes longer for those kinds of pitchers to hit their stride.

Most major leaguers love to hit the fastball, they get fastballs 70% of the time in April.

If your team has finesse throwers, it might take a few more starts before they hit their groove.

Dodger faithful will keep their fingers crossed in Kevin Brown’s first start of the season against Arizona. What’s up with Dodger reliever Paul Shuey, since coming over from Cleveland last July, the righty is in trouble every time he hits the mound.

Rookie Jeremy Bonderman makes his ML debut against Minnesota. The kid has great arm, but this one looks difficult for Detroit.

With one down and 161 to go all is well in Oakland.

Life should be so easy for everyone else.