I’d planned to attend tonight’s Mariner game, but a column I wrote today for Wednesday took longer than I’d planned, so I watched it on the tube.

Good thing. I hate to watch a choke job in person. Fitting that Ichiro ended it by looking at strike three. Ugh. That’s four straight losses and a they’re four games behind the Angels.

It’s too early to designate this a “must game” or this three-game series against the Angels a “must series.” But it would have made things a lot easier on the M’s had they won tonight and tomorrow, leaving town trailing the Angels by a game for the AL West lead. They’re a game up on the Yankees for the wild card.

Instead, they’re four down, with Felix Hernandez on the mound Wednesday.

Angels relievers held up the M’s after they unloaded on Santana for five runs in the first. That allowed Vlad Guerrero to bludgeon Jeff Weaver and a cast of thousands and gave the Angels a 7-6 lead. Credit Ichiro with an RBI double that drove in Betancourt to tie it, but the Angels immediately responded.

The Angels are convincing me. On the big stage, in a big game, the Angels are cool and dangerous. For the second straight night, the M’s couldn’t match them in the Big Moment. The Angels, from my angle, have the best team in baseball. It’ll be pretty difficult to beat in the playoffs.

So it’s Hernandez against Jared Weaver Wednesday. A win and the M’s are three back. They have four more against the Angels in Los Angeles. They’re not out of it.

But they didn’t help themselves in this first Biggest Series of the Year.