Saunders CF
Bay LF
Seager 3B
Morse RF
Smoak 1B
Ackley 2B
Shoppach C
Ryan SS
Harang P

James McDonald has struggled in 2013. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

First and foremost, the Mariners play in Pittsburgh tonight, so Aaron Harang needs to bat. As a result, Kendrys Morales and

Justin Smoak cannot play at the same time. With Morales getting a rest tonight, Wedge elected to move Kyle Seager into the three-hole, and move Jason Bay (not the hot-hitting Dustin Ackley) into the second spot in the order. Bay built a reputation as a consistent power hitter in six years with the Pirates, and made All Star Game appearances in 2005 and 2006. He was the 2004 National League Rookie of the Year for Pittsburgh.

In an interesting pre-game development, Pirates righty James McDonald, scheduled to start today’s game, was scratched due to right shoulder discomfort. Mcdonald, 2-2 with a 5.76 ERA in six starts in 2013, will go on the disabled list according to Pirates.com. Venezuelan right-hander Jeanmar Gomez, 1-0 with a 3.06 ERA in six appearances (one start) in 2013, will start in McDonald’s place.

The game is the first of an odd mid-week two-game series between the Pirates and Mariners. Felix Hernandez battles A.J. Burnett in the series final Wednesday at 9:35 a.m. PT.

May 3, 2013; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Seattle Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager (15) hits a 2 run homer in the fourth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

• Felix registered his 66th career start of eight or more innings with two or fewer runs allowed. Since his 2005 debut, he leads the major leagues in that obscure yet impressive category (Per: @Mariners).
• Kyle Seager went 3-for-4, raising his average to .304 on the young season. This is interesting, because in case you haven’t noticed, Mariners’ players don’t typically hit .300 since Ichiro stopped doing so. Also, Seager’s second hit was a first pitch, upper-tank home run off of Romero, his fourth of the year. It was absolutely destroyed, and was his third homer of the year against left-handed pitchers.
• Jason Bay hit an opposite field shot in the sixth inning to extend the Mariner lead to four. It marked Bay’s third blast of the year, and showed that Bay still has some of the power that allowed him to average 29 home runs in a six year period in his prime. The Bay over Casper Wells decision continues to look better and better for Jack Zdurencik.
• With the bases loaded and one man out in the fourth inning, Dustin Ackley fell behind Romero 0-2. Instead of wildly hacking to stay alive, a la 2012 Ackley, he patiently took three pitches, including a tempting 1-2 breaking ball. He then ripped a 3-2 fastball through the whole for an RBI single. Another base hit later on raised his average to .255, and he’s slowly but surely becoming a viable part of the lineup again.
• Initially, Hisashi Iwakuma was supposed to be starting tomorrow’s game for the M’s. Then early in the week, Eric Wedge announced Joe Saunders would swap spots and make an early start because of Iwakuma’s nagging blister. Earlier today, Wedge changed his mind, saying Iwakuma would in fact make his regularly scheduled start. Maybe there was some gamesmanship involved here, but the takeaway is that Iwakuma is still healthy enough to pitch on his regular timetable. Thanks for the distraction, Wedge.

Iwakuma takes on reigning NL Cy Young award winner R.A. Dickey tomorrow at 10:07 a.m. PT.

• MLB.com beat writer Greg Johns broke down Jason Bay’s improvement and how he has earned more playing time
• Seattle Times baseball columnist Larry Stone discussed Tom Wilhelmsen’s remarkable comeback story and effectiveness as a major league closer.
• The Tacoma Rainiers won their ninth straight game, according to the Seattle Times. Jeremy Bonderman allowed just two hits in eight shutout innings.
• John Stearns is pleased to be managing in Tacoma in Daren Brown’s stead, says Stone.
• Lookout Landing’s Logan Davis wonders if it’s time to promote Nick Franklin to the big leagues. I say not until June, since if Robert Andino is the casualty, the Mariners will have no adequate back up at third base.
• Fangraphs’ Bradley Woodrum takes an extensive look at home runs on 0-2 counts in 2013. His third favorite was one Alex Rios hit off of Felix earlier this year.