A’s 3, Mariners 0

6 IP, no runs, just one hit (a Richie Sexson double), no walks, 6K’s for Oakland’s Barry Zito. Depending on how the next few months play out, this was either a crucial step in the A’s drive to the Western Division title, or the night Zito salvaged a big chunk of his trade value.

Former Seattle C Dan Wilson did the luckiest-man-on-earth routine in a pregame ceremony designed to celebrate his retirement. I only watched a few minutes. It didn’t take long to become distracted by thoughts of what a Friar’s Club Roast of Rich Gedman might’ve been like. Or trying to calculate how short Wilson’s oration might’ve been if the Mariners had never traded Jason Varitek for Heathcliff Slocumb.