For those of you who missed it last night, here's our latest Mariners road trip video, chronicling the journey from Seattle to Arlington, Texas:

On to some thoughts about the baseball team...

Forget about catching the Angels, who came back to win last night and snap a four-game losing streak. Don't worry too much about the Oakland A's, now 8 1/2 games up on Seattle after this latest Mariners loss, a 13-12 stinker to the Texas Rangers last night. Yeah, it would have been a feel-good win had Brandon Morrow managed to keep striking out everybody in sight. But the reality is, the M's were outscored 12-3 between the bottom of the first until the top of the ninth. A win in this game would have been a gift from the Baseball Gods.

But forget the Rangers, A's and Angels. The biggest foe this Mariners team is fighting right now comes from within its own clubhouse. And for all the calls I've seen for the ouster of manager John McLaren in recent weeks, some well-reasoned, others bordering on the ridiculous, these coming days will be a true test of his leadership abilities. McLaren alluded to it slightly in yesterday's pre-game session with reporters, about how "little things'' in the clubhouse had to be dealt with before becoming bigger. The manager suggested at the time that his staff had moved to quell any small brush fires and that the team was more together now. I'm not so sure that's the case.

Yes, there have been some team meetings. This team, if nothing else, is excellent at holding meetings. But that alone won't do it. You get the sense walking through that clubhouse that it is more of a collection of individual groups than one team streaking towards a common goal. Every clubhouse has its cliques, but for the M's, this is always going to be a particular challenge strictly because of the natural language barriers that exist. You glance around the clubhouse on any given day, you'll see the young relief pitchers off in one corner, the two middle infielders in another, sometimes holding court with Carlos Silva and Felix Hernandez, other times with Miguel Cairo. Miguel Batista will be off by himself. Jarrod Washburn and Erik Bedard, sometimes, in another corner. Ichiro off doing his own thing, which will usually involve intense pre-game stretching. Kenji Johjima off by himself. Cha Seung Baek off by himself. Adrian Beltre doing his own thing, though he'll also socialize with the middle infielders. Richie Sexson holding court with Willie Bloomquist and sometimes Jamie Burke.

There will be interminglers between the groups. J.J. Putz spends plenty of time with the young relievers, trying to help them feel as comfortable as he can. Putz is one guy who can roam freely around the clubhouse interacting with all the groups I just mentioned. Silva is another, who, despite Spanish being his first language, seems comfortable interracting with everyone. Raul Ibanez can do it as well. But this clubhouse will always have its challenges. And now, with 12 losses in the last 15 games, those challenges look more serious than ever.

Texas fans, glum moments earlier, react in celebration as Ramon Vazquez is mobbed at home plate following a solo home run off Brandon Morrow in the 10th. Texas hands Seattle a 13-12 defeat. Sorry about the late post, but my newspaper obligations are right up against their deadline after that four-hour game and some things have to wait. Thanks for being patient.

John McLaren was not happy, obviously, with the pitching tonight.

"Our pitching didn't hold up tonight from the beginning to the end,'' he said. "It was a tough night tonight. A lot of base on balls.''

Erik Bedard didn't have it from the get-go. He didn't look in-sync with catcher Kenji Johjima, the game's hitting hero for the Mariners. But you have to overcome that. He was handed a 5-0 lead in the first inning.

Bedard didn't blame anyone. Said nothing was working for him. And it wasn't.

McLaren didn't have Sean Green available and was saving J.J. Putz for later. Morrow had been mowing down hitters since coming on in the ninth, but Vazquez got hold of one.

"We had a 5-0 lead and with a pitcher like Bedard on the mound, you're going to win more of those than you lose,'' McLaren said. "It was just a shame we couldn't get a win.

"We're starting to swing the bats. We're coming around. We just had a rough night pitching.''

Johjima didn't make excuses, even though the wind likely wreaked havoc with some of the pitches and contributed to the 13 walks we saw from Seattle pitchers. For a brief moment, Johjima's season-long struggles at the plate were forgotten in that ninth inning. He was mobbed by teammates after hitting that three-run homer.

"I think they went off (in celebration) because a guy like me that was the goat for the past couple of weeks had hit his first home run,'' he said.

But it was soon forgotten. Vazquez, the former Mariner, is the same guy who hit that homer off J.J. Putz last July to snap his saves streak. He's bad news for the M's. Lots of bad news for this team. This one really hurt.

8:58 p.m.: Texas Rangers fans are in stunned disbelief, above, after a Kenji Johjima three-run homer with two out in the ninth and an 0-2 count, ties the game at 12-12. Johjima's blast came off Texas closer C.J. Wilson. A huge RBI double that inning by Raul Ibanez as well to get the M's back within three. Seattle's dugout erupted like I've never seen before when Johjima hit that ball. Any of you sending me those emails the past hour want to re-hire Bill Bavasi now? LOL. You all had him fired five minutes ago. Maybe five minutes from now, too. Let's see.

The Rangers had gone ahead 12-8 in the eighth, courtesy of four walks, three by Mark Lowe and one by Arthur Rhodes, to force in a pair of runs. The 13 walks issued by the M's is their most in a nine-inning game since they yielded 14 in July 2004. It is only the fifth time in club history they've allowed 13 or more. Hang on, it's not over yet. We're almost at a four-hour game and it's only the bottom of the ninth.

7:55 p.m.: Jose Lopez just cost his team four runs in the seventh inning, booting a ground ball that should have been the final out of the frame. Instead, his error gave the Rangers the go-ahead marker (the bases were loaded with two out) and an ensuing single to left by Josh Hamilton brought home two more runs. Pinch-hitter Frank Catalanotto then singled in another. It's now a 10-6 game, the Rangers in the lead. Things looking bleak indeed for Seattle. Tonight and overall. I watched Lopez's body language on that grounder. To me, even before the error, it looked like he was afraid of making a mistake. Yes, he had to range to his right a little. But a major league second baseman has to make that play. Mark Lowe should have been out of the inning tied 6-6.

I hope Ryan Rowland-Smith's mother wasn't streaming live on her MLB Extra Innings package from back in Australia in that inning. I don't think her son was offering friendly Aussie "G-day, mate!'' greetings to Ramon Vazquez of the Rangers after striking him out with runners at second and third. Vazquez dropped an "F" bomb or two, after which Rowland-Smith unleashed a torrent of unprintables clearly visible to the lip-reading public via television replay. No brawls this time. But the words were flying fast and furiously between the pair.

Here's the latest in our series of travel videos. Come join me as I fly from Seattle to Arlington, Texas earlier today. Catch the view of Mount Rainier out my airplane window. Afterwards, I'll show you footage of the new Dallas Cowboys stadium being built just up the road from here. For Crazy in the comments section, to answer your question, I use a Panasonic PV-GS83 digital video camera.

That's what the Mariners face, beginning tonight. Just arrived here at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, having caught a morning flight from Seattle. A very early morning flight. Been catching up on some of my reading today, including the debate over the winning percentage the Mariners will need to attain from here on in to reach 90+ wins and make the playoffs. You can't argue with Adam's logic. The numbers are there. They don't lie. I can tell you, the way these things are viewed by the players are in short-term increments. In other words, they'll see it as, win five in a row and all of a sudden, the winning percentage needed the rest of the year becomes smaller. I know, I know. It's still the same hurdle. But psychology is an important part of baseball. If we look at the standings on June 24 of last season, we find the M's were eight games behind the first place Angels. Seattle had whittled that down to two games by July 12, then to one game by July 20.

Of course, the M's never did catch the Angels. But they had their chances. Is it going to work that way again this year? I wouldn't bank on it. But if you're going to get yourself in an eight-game hole, the earlier in the season the better.

Seattle was a sub.-500 team on May 21 of last year, sitting at 19-21. But the M's still rebounded to win 88 games and that was with a late-August collapse.

Things are possible. Teams are often capable of playing better-than-.600 ball for prolonged stretches, as the Mariners did for three months last season. The thing is, once teams reach a certain level of confidence, they can start to reel off wins without being daunted by the prospect of having to play .640 or .650, or whatever between May and late-September.

What do the M's have to do? Right now, get back to being a .500 team. Get back to within four or five games of the division lead and worry about the math part later. I've seen plenty of teams up their games the final month or two and play .650 or better down the stretch. Teams in pennant races can often beat up on those playing out the string. Not all of those wins in a .650 percentage are created equal. But the M's are a long way from worrying about that.

They've got three games here and three more against a struggling San Diego squad after that. If you want to make up ground, this is where you start. It won't be easy. This team has already lost a lot of ground, perhaps too much. It's going to be a long road home.

Not much worse, but worse nonetheless. The Mariners managed to finally come back and win a game in which they'd trailed by two or more runs, taking a 6-3 decision today after trailing 2-0 in the first. Seattle had been 0-19 once the other team achieved at least a two-run lead. The M's had only overcome the gap twice previously, losing both times in the end. Not this time.

I'm not going to insult your intelligence by telling you to back away from the cliff. Stay there for a bit. This team finally managed to score four or more runs in consecutive games for the first time since April 20 and 22 (four runs each time). Problem is, it's May 11. That is ridiculous. No team with designs on winning even a Little League tournament can go three weeks between putting up consecutive run totals that don't even equate to league average. The time for being diplomatic is done. This team has to step it up.

That said, the Los Angeles Angels did the M's a favor by getting swept by Tampa Bay this weekend. Instead of being double-digits back of the Angels, the M's are "only'' seven games behind. That's pretty sad. But it isn't -- sigh! -- terminal just yet. I know, I know, it's about as bleak as you can get. The M's are also eight games behind division-leading Oakland. If you expect the A's to win the AL West, that's bad news. I don't expect that, so it isn't the end of the world to me.

Seattle is, however, up the proverbial creek with a splintered paddle. Seven or eight games out is not where you want to be at any point in the season -- let alone the second week in May. But it is still May. If this was the worst of the storm, the Mariners may have a shot -- may have a shot -- at getting back in this thing. But only if the starting rotation comes through in Texas this week and the offense finds away to score five runs in a game again.

Bottom 9th

Game over as Cairo makes last out.. 8-4 the final M's lose. Buenas noches amigos!

Top 9th

Mark Lowe has allowed a run to make it 8-4. Ryan Rowland-Smith is coming into pitch and the Go-Go Sox (1959 reference from the Minoso era -- what decade wasn't?) have runners at first and second with two out.

Bottom 7th

Man, tough luck strikes again. The White Sox escape a jam when P Octavio Dotel fakes the pickoff attempt, only to see Bloomquist going for second. His throw to Uribe at second is too late, but Ichiro is breaking for home on the play. Uribe fires to catcher Toby Hall and Ichiro is tagged out. Inning over.

Bottom 6th
Update III: Clement, who has struck out twice already,

Update II: Javier Vazquez is on the ropes as the Mariners are threatening to add more. First and third, one out, sacrifice fly for Lopez. 7-4 Sox.

Update: Beltre is the RBI man tonight. He comes through with a base hit up the middle to drive in both runners. It's 7-3 Sox.

A threat perhaps? Cairo singles, Ichiro doubles.

Top 6th

Washburn is out, Cha Seung Baek is in. Line on Washburn: 5 IP, 8 H, 7R, 2 BB, 3 K, 103 pitches.

Top 5th

It seems Ibanez is having a tough night. First the ball he couldn't get to a ball in left field in the second, and now a grounder ("hot smash," as Harry Caray used to call 'em) down the line that he let get by him for an RBI triple.
7-1 Sox.

Bot 4th

We want the funk! We need the funk! They certainly do. And Beltre just provided some with a solo home run. 6-1 Chicago.

Top 3rd

A silver lining: Nice throw from Balentien in RF to Beltre at 3B to Lopez at 2B and they get Joe Crede trying to go from first to second on a single. No further damage as Washburn gets Anderson to pop out.

Top 2nd
Carlos Quentin has hit a two-run HR off Washburn. Make it 6-0 Chicago. They are hitting Washburn hard, and the boos are raining down.

Well, here we go again. This is how it's been going for the M's these days. Three-run bomb by Brian Anderson gives ChiSox (does anyone call them that anymore?) a 3-0 lead. That rhythm Washburn had in the first is more like a groove, as in grooving the pitch right over the heart of the plate, for the opposing team. He went to 3-1 on Anderson before the HR came.

Bot 1st

How many times lately has Ichiro weakly grounded out? Maybe it's just me but it seems to be happening quite a bit.

There won't be much to this but I will do my best. 58 degrees, roof closed at game time.

Good start for Washburn, who looks like he's got a rhythm early. Now let's see if those listless bats can perk up.

UPDATE: Oops! Sorry for the 3 RFs. Wow you guys are so on top of it! Thanks for making me aware of the mistake.

Get ready for some interesting names in interesting places. Hey, whatever they can do to get it going, right? That's what John McLaren's attitude seemed to be as he discussed the lineup for tonight. Here ya go...and thanks for joining me on my every-once-in-a-while game night in place of Mr. Baker. Saludos a todos! They're playing "Change Clothes" by Jay-Z and Pharrell Williams on the PA at Safeco right now. Underrated song. And Wanda from the press box staff hooked me up with the Mom's Day T-shirt! Something else to give Mom tomorrow.

1. Ichiro CF
2. Bloomquist SS
3. Beltre 3B
4. Ibanez LF
5. J-Lo (er, Jose Lopez) 2B
6. Clement DH
7. Johjima C
8. Big Bad Wlad Balentien RF
9. Cairo 1B

Swear I didn't make that up.
-Jose

Major League Baseball has reduced Mariners 1B Richie Sexson's suspension by one game, from six to five, the team announced today.

Sexson was suspended Friday by the league for "violent and aggressive actions" stemming from when he charged the pitcher's moundThursday night after a pitch from the Texas Rangers' Kason Gabbard came in high and at head level.

Sexson threw his helmet at Gabbard and both team's benches emptied. Sexson was suspended and fined but asked the players' association to appeal the suspension.

Sexson was in the lineup Friday pending the appeal, but he will miss tonight's game and the next four thereafter.

The appeal hearing took place earlier this afternoon. Sexson had hoped to miss only three our four games,
but said today that "one's better than none."

Sexson will stay in Seattle when the team heads to Texas for a three-game series beginning Monday, Mariners manager John McLaren said before tonight's game.