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AG: Welcome back to this week's edition of The Wheelhouse. I'm Aaron Goldsmith, and with us once again is Jerry Dipoto. Jerry, thanks for being here.

JD: You're welcome, Aaron.

AG: Another pretty good week for the Mariners, Jerry, as your club won four out of the five games played. Before we get too far into things, tell us a little bit about the unusual decision by MLB to reschedule yesterday's rainout at Comerica for this upcoming Thursday as part of a double-header at Safeco Field.

JD: It's a weird one, for sure, but we'll take it. Basically, we'll play as the "away" team at 1:05 in the afternoon, then turn around and play as the home team that night at 7:05. Strange for us to come to the plate first at Safeco, but we'll take it, and it was generous of the Tigers to agree to do it that way.

AG: For the Tigers, at 15-25, maybe they were thinking they'd draw more fans away from home than they are in Detroit.

JD: Well, it's been a tough year for them, except for Miggy. They'll be back in it a few years from now, I can promise you.

AG: A lot of close games this week, and some pretty good pitching, with the starting pitchers allowing just seven runs in the five games. Felix had perhaps his best start of the season on Tuesday, keeping Toronto scoreless over six innings. What are you seeing from him so far?

JD: Just a lot of gutty performances from Felix this year. He's the ultimate competitor, even if his stuff isn't where it used to be. You see him pitching backwards a little more, throwing fastballs when he's ahead in the count, and curve balls and changeups even when he's behind, keeping the hitters on their toes. The best part has been seeing him healthy, and pitching deep into games. Really pleased with his work so far.

AG: Edwin Diaz, another guy who had a great week. Eddie had four appearances- and struck out 12 batters in 4 2/3 innings. I'll repeat that: twelve batters out of fourteen outs he got. And walked only one.

JD: Edwin is just straight-up locked in right now. You've seen before, sometime he struggles with his command with either the fastball or the slider, but this week everything's been working, and when you have two weapons like that, no chance for the opposing hitters.

AG: Edwin's already up to 25 1/3 innings this season, which is just 39 games young thus far. That would put him on pace for over a hundred innings out of the bullpen- which hasn't happened in over a decade. Do you worry about his workload?

JD: Honestly? Not really. We're keeping a close eye on his workload. We very consciously have shifted him into more of a "stopper" role this year, as we've discussed, putting him in games that are tight even if it's the seventh or eighth inning. We're not just going to put him for any old three-run lead in the ninth inning. Edwin, as you know, was a starter in the minors. He's totally on board with the plan, and I couldn't be happier with how it's been working out so far.

AG: And we could talk about this every week, but Nelson Cruz coming up big again this week. Three home runs, six RBI, and really making the difference offensively in arguably all four of the wins this week.

JD: He's been huge for us these last few weeks, even as some of the rest of the offense has slowed a bit. This is one of those stretches where the other guys would be better off just walking him.

AG: Who does he remind you of, among guys you used to play with?

JD: Really the guy I think of when I see him at the plate is Mark McGwire, Big Mac. It's an unfortunate comparison, in a sense, because of Mac's steroid use, and of course Nelson too had a suspension for that years ago. But they're very similar hitters at the plate, just uncanny ability to both drive a fastball and punish a mistake. I think if they were tracking exit velocity in the 90's, Mac would have been top of the charts.

AG: Mac ever get you?

JD: Surprisingly, no, he didn't. I did have a game against the Cardinals before Mac came over in 1997... I came in in the second inning and gave up two home runs, to Ron Gant and Delino Deshields, of all people. (Laughs) So I was lucky Mac wasn't there that day.

AG: So next week, two games against Texas and then five against Detroit with the double-header. Both teams that have struggled this year. Could we see the Mariners in first place at the end of the week?

JD: Houston's a great club, and they'll be hard to catch. It would be great to do it, but mostly we just want to keep winning series to put us in position to compete in September and October.

AG: Let's go the mailbag for a bit here. Question this week is from Stan in Greenwood about the Bear, Hisashi Iwakuma. Do you see him rejoining the club this season?

JD: You know, we were thrilled to keep him in the fold this offseason. No one was more disappointed than him about how last season turned out, and he's excited to get another opportunity this year. He should be starting a rehab assignment this week. We'll see what we get from him. I feel like I should be knocking on some wood somewhere, but we're in a great position of strength with our rotation this year, so he's a luxury to have if we need him.

AG: Another former Mariner rejoined the team this week in Doug Fister, Jerry.

JD: Yep. Doug actually pitched fairly well for Texas this year before they decided to move on, and obviously he had a lot of success earlier in his career. He'll pitch in Tacoma for now, and he's another guy we can bring up if we need to.

AG: All right, Jerry. Well, thank you as always for your time with us today.

JD: You bet, Aaron.

AG: Good luck fighting for first place this week. We'll see you next week on The Wheelhouse.