Mariners truly gritted this one out

You might have thought Adrian Beltre looked a little weak with some of those ugly swings taken earlier in tonight's game. Well, that's because he jammed his surgically-repaired left shoulder last night while diving back into second base while his team was hitting. Beltre's shoulder was so stiff that he could barely lift it pre-game, yet he took batting practice, then begged into the lineup in an effort to help a shorthanded offense. Why was it shorthanded? Well, I'm told Ken Griffey Jr. had 60 cc's (cubic centimeters) of blood drained from one of his sore knees after Friday's game. That's a lot. It's why he wasn't in the lineup for a team already missing Jose Lopez. It's why Russell Branyan stayed in the game after as fastball rang off his forearm with the score tied 2-2. "To win two games in a row right now with a lot of stuff going on with this club meand a lot to us, obviously,'' Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said afterwards. ...