Felix the Stud. But will the Angels ever lose? Daily Links.

by Mike Salk

MARINERS/MLB

Another crazy, magical night for the Mariners. Felix Hernandez pitched another gem despite an ankle injury scare, but Russell Branyan was the hero in the M’s win. Of course, the M’s gained no ground as the Royals blew a four run lead to the Angels and the Rangers beat the slumping Red Sox. But there was good news too. Shannon Drayer reports that Adrian Beltre and Franklin Gutierrez are both recovering quickly with their injuries. Gutierrez was possibly going to play today but his neck is still stiff so he’ll get another day off.

King Felix was story 1A yesterday and Art Thiel’s has a solution to keep him a Mariner long-term. Lookout Landing takes a great look at last night’s game, Felix, and Ryan Langerhans. Branyan was story 1B. With his home run, he moved into a tie for the most AL home runs.

The team announced yesterday that Ryan Rowland-Smith will start for on Friday and Garrett Olson will be moved to the bullpen. Still not sure who will start on Sunday, but Jason Vargas and Chris Jackabauskas are the best guesses. My vote is for Vargas, but I have a suspicion it will be Jack because he is on the roster already. I think each game before the deadline is critical so I would be starting Vargas…Rowland-Smith is pumped to be back in the big league rotation. In fact, he tweeted his excitement:

@hyphen18: thank you to everyone! I’m stoked to be back! Been a while but all that matter is Friday and beyond. See you guys there!

RRS is worth following on Twitter. As is BrockandSalk…

Larry Stone questions how much longer Ken Griffey Jr. will keep his spot at clean-up and DH. Hmmmmm.

Fangraphs took a look at the High A leaders and two Seattle prospects are some of the best sluggers in the league.

Joe Posnanski lists the top 100 players in baseball right now; Ichiro, Felix, Gutierrez, and Jarrod Washburn make the list.

SI looked at the best and worst fielders at each position. Beltre, Gutierrez, and Ichiro were on the best side… Not surprisingly Yuniesky Betancourt was deemed the worst shortstop in baseball.

The Boston Red Sox completed two trades yesterday adding Adam LaRoche in one deal and sending off DFA’d Julio Lugo. Mariners fans should note that the Sox essentially acquired LaRoche for free (just two fringe prospects). I guess that’s the market for a bat right now.

SEAHAWKS/NFL

Jim Moore has a great article about new seahawk T.J. Houshmandzadeh. Seahawks fullback Owen Schmitt pleads guilty to reckless driving.

The Bills may have a first round holdout. It may be a while before Anquan Boldin has a new contract. The Ravens hope to have a RB challenge.

MISC.

The UW Huskies basketball team will take on the Georgetown Hoyas in Wooden Classic.

The Lebron James getting dunked on video got out to the public. Lame. LeBron also is admitting to smoking pot in high school. Stop the presses. Is that even an admission?

Notes:
-Early game for the Mariners today- First pitch at 10:05 (weather permitting)

-With a win today Washburn would have his longest win streak in more than 5 years

-The Mariners sit 5.5 games behind the LA Angels