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MARINERS FIFTH:The Mariners finally get a runner past second — all the way to third, in fact. No run, however. Michael Saunders, with one out, slices a double to left, and moves to third on Matt Tuiasosopo’s ground out. Josh Wilson flies to fairly deep center for the third out. FYI, the Mariners and Indians have each been shut out 12 times, most in the American League. Only one of them can break the tie tonight. 4-0 Indians.

INDIANS FIFTH: Pauley settles down with an easy 1-2-3 innings against middle of Indians order. 4-0 Indians.

MARINERS FOURTH:indians pitcher Mitch Talbot brings to mind Fred Talbot, former Seattle Pilots pitcher and one the great characters of Jim Bouton’s Ball Four. No relation, as far as I know. Talbot has a two-hit shutout through four. 4-0 Indians.

INDIANS FOURTH: Another run off Pauley. One-out bunt single by Jason Donald (whose cousin works at the Seattle Times), and two-out RBI single by Michael Brantley (whose father used to play for the Mariners). 4-0 Indians.

MARINERS THIRD:Three up, three down for the Mariners. 3-0 Indians.

INDIANS THIRD:Pauley gives up two runs and he’s lucky it wasn’t more. After four straight hits to start the inning, the Indians had two in and runners at first and third, with no outs. Travis Hafner hit a shot, but right at Figgins, who doubled the runner off first. After a walk, Pauley struck out Matt LaPorta to end the inning. But the Indians have three runs, and the Mariners haven’t scored more than three in their last eight games. 3-0 Indians.

MARINERS SECOND:A leadoff single by Casey Kotchman — and nothing more. 1-0 Indians.

INDIANS SECOND:A 1-2-3 inning for Pauley, including the last two by strikeout to give him three whiffs through two. 1-0 Indians.

MARINERS FIRST:Russ Branyan gets a two-out, broken-bat single, but Indians starter Mitch Talbot gets Jose Lopez, a late addition to the lineup, to fly out to right. 1-0 Indians.

INDIANS FIRST: At just about the same time the clock ran down on UW, Travis Hafner delivered a single to score Shin-Soo Choo, who had singled and stole second. All of that happened with two outs. 1-0 Indians.

For those who have dragged themselves away from the Husky-BYU game, welcome. I have a feeling traffic will pick up considerably once that one is over.

This game will have ramifications on the reverse standings. Currently, these two teams have the third and fourth worst record in the majors, behind Pittsburgh and Baltimore. The Indians (54-81) are one game better than the Mariners (53-82), so a Seattle win would leave them in a dead heat.

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Heading into this season, the 2011 option that the Mariners held for Jose Lopez seemed likely to be exercised. A $5MM price tag for a 26-year-old second baseman coming off a 25-homer season looked like a bargain.

With the season now winding down, however, the Mariners’ decision doesn’t look quite so obvious. Although he has provided the team better defense at third base than he did last year at second (according to UZR), Lopez’s offensive production has fallen off a cliff. After hitting .272/.303/.463 in 2009, the infielder has seen his 2010 slash line slip to .240/.270/.331.

Lopez’s down year means that the Mariners must now make a series of decisions this winter regarding his future. First, they’ll have to decide if this season was an aberration for Lopez or whether they may have reason to expect more of the same next year. The 26-year-old was never adept at getting on base, but generally made up for it with his power stroke. With only seven home runs in 529 plate appearances this year, he’s no longer doing that. Will he be able to get his slugging percentage back up to .450+ in 2011?

If the offensively challenged M’s decide they’d like to have Lopez around next spring, they still have to determine whether to pick up or decline his option. Considering Lopez is making $2.75MM this year and his option is worth $5MM ($250K buyout), Seattle could elect to turn down the option and instead tender him a contract in his final arbitration-eligible season. Due to Lopez’s struggles, whatever raise he would earn in arbitration should still see him earning less than the $4.75MM it would cost the team to exercise the option.

On the other hand, the Mariners could decide they don’t have interest in retaining Lopez and his .298 career OBP at all, declining his option and then non-tendering him. What do you expect the Mariners to do? Click here to vote on their decision and click here to view the results.

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