SEATTLE – When longtime Mariners trainer Rick Griffin completed his final treatment for prostate cancer in late June, he received a commemorative coin from the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Proton Therapy Center. It has a prominent place of honor on his desk.

SEATTLE – Dylan Moore has never viewed himself as anything but an everyday player in some way. It didn’t matter what position he was playing in the field, but he felt he could find his way into the lineup on a daily basis with his athleticism, speed, sneaky power potential and versatility.

After 20 games in 20 days to start the 2020 season, the Mariners will get a much-needed break on Thursday in scenic Houston where they will be remanded to the team hotel and encouraged not to leave that “bubble.”

SEATTLE – To be fair, as the Mariners have slowly climbed up from where they couldn’t go any lower, the two front-office members most often asked about the subject – general manager Jerry Dipoto and director of player development Andy McKay – still maintain that rankings from “third-party” media don’t influence their decisions.

Perhaps the closed roof and climate controlled atmosphere of the new Globe Life Field with its air conditioning and comfortable temperatures were just the thing to cool off the Mariners’ bats.

ARLINGTON, Texas – Kyle Seager hit a grand slam, Kyle Lewis and Dylan Moore also homered and the Seattle Mariners won 10-2 Monday night in their first game at the new Texas ballpark, snapping the Rangers’ three-game winning streak.

As the last out was made of the Mariners’ 5-3 win over the Rockies, the roof of T-Mobile Park slowly began to open, eventually bringing in the late afternoon sunshine that bathed the right-field stands in warmth.

It usually takes a quarter of a season to discern the quality of a major league baseball team. In any normal year, that is about 40 games. In 2020, it’s 15.

SEATTLE – A year and five days ago, in a time when masks were for surgeries and dental appointments, when fans could attend games and baseball was a 162-game season, the Mariners were no-hit by four Houston Astros pitchers at Minute Maid Park. It was fitting outcome to the domination by the Astros.

Here’s the thing about rallies in baseball or in any sport: They are never just a product of the offense, even though that’s often what is most remembered.

Shohei Ohtani homered in his first plate appearance since being shut down as a pitcher, Dylan Bundy struck out 10 in the third complete game of his career and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Seattle Mariners 6-1 on Thursday.