HIGHLIGHTS

Ichiro’s walk-off home run against Mariano Rivera

Two outs into the ninth inning on Sept. 18, trailing the New York Yankees at Safeco Field, 2-1, with closer Rivera on the mound. Pinch-hitter Mike Sweeney doubles and, on the first pitch he sees, Ichiro homers for the victory.

“That was the epitome of what our season was about. Play good baseball, keep the game close and find a way to win in the end,” manager Don Wakamatsu said.

Pinch-hit home run by Ken Griffey Jr.

Trailing the Diamondbacks 3-0 in the eighth inning on June 19, Russell Branyan leads off with a home run, Adrian Beltre singles and with 27,326 on their feet at Safeco Field Junior pinch hits for Wladimir Balentien.

On the first pitch, Junior homers to tie the game, and the Mariners rally to win on a Rob Johnson triple.

“That was the most electric moment of the season for me,” coach Ty Van Burkleo said. “The crowd was so into that at-bat and first pitch gone. Amazing.”

One-hitter by now-departed pitcher Jarrod Washburn

The veteran lefty allowed a single to Nick Markakis in the fourth inning July 6, but faced only 28 batters in nine innings, using 110 pitches to beat Baltimore at Safeco Field, 5-0.

“That’s as good a game as you’ll see thrown in the majors this year,” Orioles manager Dave Trembley said afterward.

Asked if he was disappointed to have given up a hit, Washburn smiled.

“I usually give up more than one,” he said.

Felix Hernandez and September Cy Young chase

A Cy Young Award contender all season, the 23-year-old reminded everyone what a staff ace is supposed to do down the stretch. After Sept. 1, Hernandez went 5-0 with a 1.35 earned run average challenging the rest of a young rotation to follow suit.

The result? Felix finished with 19 wins, and the Mariners went 17-13 the final month of the season.

The emergence of Franklin Gutierrez as center fielder

Two coaches Bruce Hines and Alan Cockrell said watching the 26-year-old Gutierrez play every day was the highlight of the season.

“At the plate, he proved he can be a factor, and to my mind in the outfield he’s the best center fielder in the league today,” Hines said. “It’s not just speed, it’s the jumps he gets on the ball.”

Obtained in trade last winter, Gutierrez played 153 games, batted .283 with 18 home runs and 70 RBI and led the majors in putouts by an outfielder.

LOWLIGHTS

Brandon Morrow blows back-to-back games

At Texas on May 13-14, the Mariners take leads into the final inning of consecutive games, and Morrow loses both and his job as closer.

The losses drop Seattle three games below .500, and the team didn’t get back to .500 until June 11.

Erik Bedard and The Curse of Bill Bavasi

On June 7, Bedard won his fifth game of the season, beating the Twins, 4-2. An inflamed shoulder shut him down for weeks, and after coming back, he lost to Cleveland on July 25 and underwent season-ending shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum. A potential No. 2 starter in a rotation that got younger as the year wore on, Bedard wasn’t healthy the last four months of the season.

The black hole at shortstop

Yuniesky Betancourt, Ronny Cedeno, Jack Wilson 2009 was a season marked by lackadaisical play, poor hitting and injury at shortstop.

Betancourt pouted and played poorly, then was traded to Kansas City. Cedeno played well defensively but couldn’t hit and was traded to Pittsburgh. Wilson strained a hamstring, bruised a heel and wound up playing only 31 games in the final two months.

Carlos Silva and the Curse of Bill Bavasi

Silva, 30, shook off a disastrous ’08 season by losing 30 pounds and showing up for spring training in great shape.

Once the season began, Silva lost his first two games, beat the Angels, but went down with shoulder inflammation May 7 and never started again. With a salary of $11 million third highest on the team Silva watched the season from the bench and training room.

Adrian Beltre — bone chips and a bad hop at third base

A Gold Glove third baseman in the final year of his contract, the Mariners hoped to ride his bat until the trading deadline, then pick up badly needed pieces in a deal. Instead, Beltre never hit consistently 44 RBI in 111 games and needed July shoulder surgery, which ended any hope of a trade. And then there was that bad hop that hit him where a protective cup should have been but wasn’t …. Oh, ouch.