KANSAS CITY, Mo. –  Don’t overlook reliever Danny Farquhar in the coming days when compiling the long list of what-ifs in the Seattle Mariners’ disappointing season. Oh, Farquhar isn’t at the top, certainly. There were bigger puzzles, such as Robinson Cano’s inexplicable six-week crash from late April to mid-June, a maddening lack of productivity with runners in scoring position and Fernando Rodney’s ruinous decline.

ARLINGTON, Texas – Felix Hernandez’s drive for 20 victories lives on after the Mariners pounded their way to a 9-2 victory over Texas on Sunday at Globe Life Park. Robinson Cano’s three-run homer keyed a six-run fifth inning that enabled Hernandez to improve to 18-9 with two starts remaining. There is some concern, though.

Wednesday: We are into the second half of September. The calendar will soon tell us fall is actually here. Which means the World Series will be as well. When will the Mariners be a part of it? • Today we discuss the hypothetical. Or the impossible, whichever you prefer.

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Godfather II aside, most sequels are disappointments – a truth that Seattle Mariners lefty Vidal Nuno greatly reinforced Saturday night in a 10-1 clubbing by the Texas Rangers. It was just 10 days earlier that Nuno held the Rangers to one hit over seven innings in a 6-0 victory at Safeco Field.

ARLINGTON, Texas – Few teams in baseball were playing at a higher level than the Texas Rangers coming into Friday. They had won five straight games, including a four-game sweep of the Houston Astros, to take the lead in the American League West. But the Mariners put an end to that streak in businesslike fashion, jumping to an early three-run lead and hanging on for a 3-1 win at Globe Life Park.

ARLINGTON, Texas – The schedule puts Seattle Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager in line for another matchup against Los Angeles Angels right-hander Jered Weaver in a little more than a week. It should be interesting.

SEATTLE – Even after three years, Jesus Montero continues to own Angels right-hander Jered Weaver. Montero hit a three-run homer Wednesday night that carried the Mariners to a 3-1 victory at Safeco Field – his fifth homer in 12 career at-bats against Weaver.

SEATTLE – The two Angels’ hitters with the most success against Felix Hernandez in the past were able to continue it in the present and put a damper on his quest for 20 wins and the Seattle Mariners’ victory hopes on Tuesday night. David Murphy and Mike Trout each hit home runs off Hernandez – giving them four each in their career off the Mariners’ ace – and that’s all the offense the Angels would need in a 4-3 win over Seattle at a sparsely populated Safeco Field.

It’s been six-plus weeks now that Seattle Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano has played through the limitations of a strained abdominal muscle. “Any time that I force it,” he said, “I can feel it a little bit. Every time I run I feel it, but then it just goes away.”