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AG: Welcome back to this week's edition of The Wheelhouse. Aaron Goldsmith here, and with us as always is Jerry Dipoto, General Manager of the Seattle Mariners. Jerry, thanks for being with us.

JD: Happy to be here as always, Aaron.

AG: I guess you could say it was a disappointing week for the Mariners, winning just three games out of the seven against the Rangers and the Tigers this week. And your next opponent, the A's, are nipping at your heels for second place in the division, on a nine-game winning streak. How are you feeling about your club at this point in the season?

JD: Well, as a wise baseball man named Lloyd McClendon once said, that's baseball. Well, he said it a few more times than once. No concerns. Sometimes you the bar, and sometimes the bar eats you.

AG: One of the stories of this week was erstwhile Seattle Mariner Shawn Armstrong, now the closer for the Tigers, saved three games against your club this week. What was that like?

JD: Yeah, I'll admit that was a little hard to watch. As you know, we had really wanted to retain Shawn in the organization when he went on waivers a few weeks ago, and understandably, the Tigers wanted him and put him right into that role, and he's really thrived. No surprise there, but disappointing he couldn't have been doing that for us.

AG: You're heading into a 13-game stretch, starting with the A's, as I mentioned. How do you stop a team that's won nine in a row?

JD: They're a good, young team. They've gotten some nice contributions from Jonathan Lucroy, and from Boog Powell, who of course is a former Mariner. He's had a really good year out of the leadoff hole so far. We're really going to try to contain their offense, and with their lefty hitters, we actually match up pretty well against them with James Pazos and Mark Rzepczynski.

AG: Because of the double-header this week you guys needed a sixth starter, Ariel Miranda. Ariel pitched very well, keeping the Tigers off the board for five innings, and then got demoted the next day! What went into that decision?

JD: Yeah, that was part of the plan. Obviously we brought up Doug Fister this week knowing we would need him give us some innings, and with Juan Nicasio returning as well, we just couldn't keep everyone up on the major league club. Ariel actually started the most games of any Mariner pitcher last year, so we know what we're getting from him, and he'll certainly be back with us later this year.

AG: That game was probably the toughest moment of the week, with Edwin Diaz giving up a two-run single in the ninth to Miguel Cabrera to put the Tigers ahead for good.

JD: It was tough. We really did not want to have to use Edwin in that game. It was the fourth straight game we had to bring him into, and Dan Altavilla and Pazos just didn't have their best stuff that day, and James dropping the throw at first base was just a killer, that we couldn't get out of the ninth. With the matchup against Miggy we wanted our best guy out there, and Cabrera's such a good hitter, he was able to take a slider that caught a little too much of the plate into left field.

AG: There was a lot of excitement about Ichiro rejoining the club entering the season. He started off pretty strong, but has tailed off a bit this month, and was 0 for 12 this week. How is playing time breaking down between him and Guillermo Heredia moving forward? And does Ben Gamel get into the mix anytime soon?

JD: Guillermo and Ichiro are more or less platooning. We know we're going to see more hits from Ichiro this year. For that matter, he hits lefties pretty much as well as righties, so it's just a way to work Guillermo into the lineup. Ben's been really good in triple A, and he's certainly the next man up should any of the outfielders get injured.

AG: Let's go the mailbag for a bit. This question is from Ava, in Bellevue. Ava asks, how does a analytically-oriented general manager such as yourself evaluate clubhouse chemistry?

JD: It's not an easy thing to evaluate. I do think that our chemistry's pretty good overall. Mike Zunino is a pretty quiet guy who kind of leads by example, and Felix is obviously a bit more of a live wire, but the guys really look up to him as well. I really haven't heard about any problems with respect to chemistry.

AG: We hear about the Swelmet, the fun these guys have after they win a game. Do you think that good chemistry helps the team win games? Has that helped the Mariners this season?

JD: It's really bi-directional, Aaron. You look back to my days with Cleveland, and you get the group of personalities that we had in Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez, and then the really hard-working types like Jim Home and Eddie Murray, and that was just a recipe for problems if the team were losing. But that team won a lot of games- and so the chemistry wasn't a problem at all.

AG: Any good food tips for the trip to Oakland?

JD: I'll actually be staying behind in Seattle these next few days. But for Oakland, one place I'd try while you're there is Clove and Hoof- which is a butcher shop-slash-bistro. Good place for a pastrami sandwich if that suits your fancy.

AG: That one is new to me- I'll give it a try, Jerry. All right, Jerry. Any parting words for this week?

JD: Not really, Aaron. We're happy with where we're at and hopefully we'll take a couple from Oakland.

AG: Sounds good. Thanks again for joining us, Jerry.

JD: You bet.

AG: And we'll see you next week on The Wheelhouse.