It seems somewhat fitting that Ichiro set his record by doing what he has so often throughtout his career. Ichiro secured his ninth straight 200-hit season in the second inning with a slow roller towards shortstop Elvis Andrus for his 453rd career infield hit.

Here's our story on his accomplishment.

The crowd here stood and applauded as Ichiro's feat was announced. That showed some class. It wasn't just a paltry ovation either, it was pretty enthusiastic.

The hit brought Josh Wilson home from third to give Felix Hernandez a 2-0 lead. I didn't think the ball to Andrus was all that different from what we saw in Game 1, when the shortstop threw Ichiro out. Maybe Ichiro got up the line a half-step quicker. Or maybe the grounder was a tad slower. But that's been the story of Ichiro's career. He was a step ahead when it mattered.

Bill Hall has since added a run after his triple in the fourth. He scored on a bloop single by Jack Wilson to make it a 3-0 game. Felix Hernandez has allowed just two hits so far, but battled out of two jams in which a runner got to third with fewer than two out.

6:10 p.m.: Seattle leads 1-0 in Game 2 of the doubleheader as Jose Lopez doubled to the left field corner to score Franklin Gutierrez all the way from first base in the top of the first. Gutierrez had singled, giving the Mariners two hits already. That's half as many as they managed the first eight innings off rookie Tommy Hunter in Game 1. Ichiro began the inning by lining out to left field. Stick with us tonight, folks. We'll give you a blow-by-blow account of his assault on the record.

We've been at the park for 10 hours and counting now and we aren't going anyplace. When history's on the line, you can count on us to be there.

5:56 p.m.: We're going to play the second game of this doubleheader and Ichiro has a shot at the record books on the very first pitch. Here's the thing, though. It won't become official until they get at least five innings in. Remember, there's rain in the area.

The lineups:

MARINERS

RF Ichiro
CF Franklin Gutierrez
2B Jose Lopez
DH Mike Sweeney
3B Adrian Beltre
LF Bill Hall
SS Jack Wilson
2B Josh Wilson
C Rob Johnson

RHP Felix Hernandez

RANGERS

DH Julio Borbon
SS Elvis Andrus
2B Ian Kinsler
CF Marlon Byrd
LF David Murphy
RF Nelson Cruz
C Ivan Rodriguez
1B Chris Davis
C Taylor Teagarden
3B omar Vizquel

LHP Derek Holland