Mariners 5, Devil Rays 2.
You can often tell in the first inning if Scott Kazmir is going to have a good night or not. Last night, Kid K did not allow a run until the 5th inning but we knew the Rays were going to have a difficult time winning this game. It took Kazmir 20 pitches to get through the first inning. Every pitch out of the strike zone...every foul ball...and we cringed and hung our heads. We lied to ourselves and said it would be fine. He just needed to settle down and motor through the second inning in about 10 pitches. 18 pitches later, and now Kazmir has 38 pitches in only two innings. At this rate, even if Kazmir doesn't allow a run, he is going to be out of the game by the sixth inning. Four innings from the Devil Rays bullpen is a lot to ask for even if the Rays were still up 2-0. Rather, Kazmir did finally allow two runs and the bullpen was forced to maintain a tie game over four innings. Never gonna happen. The Rays were leading 2-0 but the game was over after the second inning.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Part of this week's shift in the rotation was to allow Edwin Jackson an extra bullpen session before his next start. Apparently, Jackson has what he is calling a flaw in his mechanics.

It's just a slight mechanical problem I was having over-rotating...It's not something big. It's something small that I was doing earlier that somehow I got away from and didn't feel.

Something small? We think that the mechanical flaw is about as small as Jackson's ERA of 7.78.

• Akinori Iwamura played three innings in an extended spring training game on Tuesday. Joe Maddon now thinks that Muu-Rah could rejoin the team as early as next week. Iwamura would likely begin a rehab assignment this weekend.
• Ty Wigginton is the team's backup catcher as the Rays continue to await Shawn Riggans' return from the minor league disabled list, so they can add Josh Paul to the major league disabled list.