The Mariners were trailing 2-0 in the top of the fifth inning. Three more outs and the game would be official. Then, if the skies opened with the A’s holding the 2-0 lead, the Mariners would be defeated.

The raindrops increased. The Mariners, the best late inning team in baseball, suddenly struck. They started playing the game like it was the ninth inning. They have rallied so many times this year in the late innings.

They did it again.

Boom. Faster than John Madden can say “tough actin tinactin” the M’s put five runs up, helped by a big error by pitcher Cory Lidle on a potential inning ending double play ball.

Game called after a couple of long rain delays. Mariners win. They made it look easy.

Tonight, Tim Hudson against Jamie Moyer. The book on Moyer is, stay close through five and you can get to him in the sixth. Eric Chavez, in particular, has taken Moyer deep the past two times he has faced him.

I don’t know if anyone else is worried about the A’s hitting, but I am. Terrance Long, Ramon Hernandez, and Carlos Pena are hitting a combine .471. Ruben Sierra is hitting .455 all by himself. He is a major reason why Seattle has at least one inning of three or more runs in every game they have played this season. The A’s hitters look dead in the water.

We’ll see how this plays out once Jermaine Dye comes back this weekend.

Paul Byrd pitched a great game against the Red Sox last time out. Tonight the Royals face the Twins. Brad Radke threw well against the Tigers his last game, this one may be low scoring and a good pitchers duel.

The White Sox try to make it two straight over Cleveland in the AL Central. Cleveland has won four in a row against lefties. Southpaw Mark Buerhle goes tonight against the Tribe. No lefty has gone more than five innings against Cleveland in any start this season. Danys Baez has been solid for Cleveland, but he puts people on base. This is a dangerous formula against the Sox who are ripping the ball. I say Buerhle breaks the lefty spell on Clevland today.

Can Darren Oliver, the Yankee killer beat Toronto? With the Red Sox still flying high after taking three of four from NY, don’t bet against him. The Blue Jay’s Scott Eyre pitched so well against NY in his last start, but this BoSox team is looking like they are off to another good start and will tease New England for a while until their pitching falls apart.

I see a lot of runs in this one.

John Rocker blew another save and the game to the Angels last night. What else is new? Texas really needs to deal with the bull pen situation before they are 15 games behind.

Don’t overlook the Reds in any game. Their bull pen is falling into place quickly. With Scott Sullivan, Danny Graves, Gabe White, Jim Brower, Jose Rijo ( yes, that Jose Rijo), and Luis Pineda, they can shut you down in a hurry.

The Cincy starters are shaky which holds this team back. Losing Ken Griffey, Jr. for a month or so doesn’t help either. They aren’t hitting a lick, but still have a winning record, thanks to the pen.

Ishii throws in Colorado today. He loves his curve ball and relies on a moving mid range fastball. This could spell disaster in a park that does not favor breaking ball pitchers. Mike Hampton has got to have something wrong with his arm? He simply can’t be this bad. Light up the scoreboard tonight, even with two teams that aren’t hitting right now.

Kurt Ainsworth throws a mercurial darting ball. He showed me something his last game against Milwaukee. Kevin Jarvis is looking for his first win. He keeps his team in the game. This should be a good low scoring NL game tonight.

Can Ben Sheets keep the wolves form Davey Lopes’ door? Sanchez, the Brewers rookie centerfielder is the real deal. Pittsburgh continues to win with a very solid pitching staff even though they lack power and Jason Kendall is hitting .119.

Moises Alou is 0-7 since coming off the DL. Still it’s exciting to see Sosa, McGriff, and Alou in the Cubs box score. Remember, this team in July when their good pitching will kick in.

Matt Morris against Curt Schilling. What a great game. Morris had the 125 pitch game two starts ago, let’s see if it effects him tonight.

Big discussion last night during the A’s – Mariners rain delay in the press box. Who will have more home runs J.T. Snow or Arizona’s Damian Miller? I go with Miller.

Maddux and D’Amico in Shea. Braves need their ace to go deep into the game. (Update: Maddux left the game after one inning with a back injury) D’Amico as I always say, if healthy, can stop any team in the league. The NL East will be a race all year.

Let’s hope for clear skies in Oakland tonight. These two teams deserve to play a normal baseball game without dodging the rain all night long.