David Aardsma News

We love to complain about our closers, but that is only because we hold them to such high standards.

What David Aardsma loved most about the Seattle Mariners of 2009 was the hope they carried into 2010.

The first full season right-hander Phillippe Aumont spent as a relief pitcher taught him all about the thrill of getting the final out of a game -- and even more about the pain caused by taking a blown save too seriously.

They celebrated like a playoff-bound team, despite the fact that their season had just come to a close.

Jack Zduriencik correctly calls 2009 "a year of redirection" for the Mariners. But after all the hugs and pies and victory laps of Sunday, the big question is: Which direction do the M's head now? So many questions.

Ken Griffey Jr., the man who carried the spirit of a resurgent Seattle Mariners team that won its 85th game Sunday, rode the shoulders of his teammates on a postgame parade lap into an uncertain future.

Update 9:51 p.m.: Mariners win 6-4, Hernandez raises his record to 18-5. But David Aardsma made everyone sweat in the ninth, giving up two runs.

Taylor Teagarden got to show the Texas Rangers what he can do. The Rangers' rookie backup catcher came through with a go-ahead single off David Aardsma and Texas scored three runs with two outs in the ninth inning to beat the Seattle Mariners 7-4 Friday night.

The Mariners had a shot in this one, but their two biggest bullpen arms couldn't get it done.

Mike Sweeney followed a two-out error with a tiebreaking two-run single in the fifth inning, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics 4-2 Thursday night.

TORONTO Once they'd won the first game on their last trip of the season, the Seattle Mariners had 79 victories for 2009 with five left before flying home.

TORONTO What began as sheer domination became a grind, and Felix Hernandez proved he's a pitcher capable of doing both on any given night.

TORONTO David Aardsma has been stuck on 35 saves for eight days, and the two- game series in Tampa Bay could have seriously frustrated him.

Josh Wilson went 2-for-4 and his two-run triple in the top of the eighth inning proved to be the difference as the Mariners held off the Blue Jays, 5-4, in the opener of a four-game set at Rogers Centre.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. Fly from the Northwest to the Southeast and there's a chance a stowaway may slip aboard physical exhaustion.

It was understandable for the Mariners to seem a little robotic through the first couple of innings.

In lieu of a run at the playoffs, the Seattle Mariners' mission this season essentially has been a search for who can and who can't cut it in the major leagues.

SEATTLE – Ryan Rowland-Smith pitched eight innings to lead the Seattle Mariners to a 4-1 victory over the White Sox on Wednesday night.

Mariners slip past White Sox 4-1 Eds: APNewsNow. Mariners 4, White Sox 1. AP Photo WAJF109, WAJF105 SEATTLE Ryan Rowland-Smith pitched eight innings to lead the Seattle Mariners to a 4-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday night.

Just got up from the clubhouse and they've pushed the game's start time back until at least 2 p.m. Pacific time.