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SEATTLE -- Excuse us while we interrupt the latest apocalyptic Yankees-Red Sox hype to present an actual division race in which the teams are -- gasp! -- less than eight games apart.

The AL West race has no accompanying mini-series ("The West Coast is Sunny and Pleasant, So Use Sunscreen"), no chick flick about crazed fans, no outrage over a star player audaciously sunbathing with his shirt off. No, it's pretty much just good old-fashioned baseball out here in the Pacific Time Zone, with a sick pitcher stepping up to throw a shutout, a fired-up manager getting ejected in the first inning and fans enjoying the first meaningful late-season series in years.

"To play a meaningful game this late in the year? It hasn't been that way for years. It's huge," Seattle manager John McLaren said, before adding the caveat. "[But] it's not so big that you lose perspective of where you are in the season and how far you have left to go."

On the other hand, McLaren was thrown out for arguing over whether his team's very first batter swung and missed at strike three or fouled it off, so he obviously was taking things fairly seriously.

The ejection took place after Ichiro swung and missed on a 1-2 pitch that bounced behind home plate and prompted umpire Gary Darling to signal a foul tip. Darling rang up Ichiro anyway, and McLaren argued so passionately that he wound up getting tossed by third-base umpire Jerry Meals.

That sort of controversy would keep talk radio lines busy until November and inspire at least two books in the Northeast, but things are saner out here in the Northwest. Besides, it wasn't like it made a big difference in the Angels' 6-0 victory behind starter John Lackey.

Despite feeling so many symptoms of strep throat that he didn't speak to reporters after the game, Lackey shut out the Mariners on seven hits to improve his record to 16-8 with a 3.18 ERA. He is 3-0 and hasn't allowed a run while pitching against Seattle this season. "That was a terrific game by John under the circumstances," manager Mike Scioscia said. "A great effort."

So, the series got off to a poor start for the Mariners, which is only to be expected, given the way their season has gone. After three consecutive last-place finishes, no one gave them any chance of winning the division. Their manager quit during an eight-game winning streak in June. With the return visit of Ken Griffey Jr., and the usual hordes for the Red Sox and Blue Jays (Seattle is a two-hour drive from Canada), Seattle fans have cheered the opposing players nearly as often as the Mariners. And in the most damning challenge to their credibility as a legitimate contender, the Mariners don't play their home games in New York or Boston.

But here the Mariners are anyway, in second place, just three games behind the Angels and leading the wild-card chase by two games.

Nobody is quite sure how the Mariners are doing it. They've outscored opponents by only 18 runs. They don't have anyone among the top dozen RBI or home run leaders. Their DH has five home runs. One of their starters has a 6.67 ERA. Another has a 5.51 ERA.

But their bullpen has been superb, the entire lineup has contributed, and after five months and 129 games, they no longer can be considered a fluke.

The most amazing twist in Seattle's rebound might be the emergence of Jose "The Human Change-of-Address Form" Guillen as a team leader. Seattle is Guillen's seventh team in seven seasons, but he might have finally found a home that will last long enough for him to order cable TV and have the guy show up to install it before he gets traded away again. He's hitting .293 with 19 home runs and 81 RBIs while repairing his reputation as a troublesome player in the clubhouse. "He's been great," McLaren said. "Just don't tell him."

"Let me ask you guys," Guillen said to reporters. "Do you ever hear about me getting in trouble off the field? Drinking, fighting in bars, fighting in the streets? Have you ever heard that? No? Thank you. I'm not this animal troublemaker."

The Angels' success has been more predictable -- they've won the division three of the past four seasons and won the World Series in 2002 as the wild card -- and conventional. At season's end, they might have five regulars bat .300, including Vladimir Guerrero (.319, 21 HR, 104 RBIs), and two starters win 20 games.

"We definitely have a friendly competition," the ailing Lackey said of teammate Kelvim Escobar, through an Angels spokesperson. "In spring training, we sat down and said we could each win 20 games."

"He steps up when he has to," Angels pitching coach Mike Butcher said of Lackey. "He's the kind of guy you want your guys to feed off. He and Escobar are feeding off each other, and the other guys are feeding off them."

As significant as this series is, Seattle faces a stiffer test in the days after it -- a four-city, 10-game road trip. The Mariners travel to Cleveland for a one-day makeup game Thursday, then play three in Toronto followed by three in New York and three more in Detroit. "We do that," Guillen said, "and then we can start to believe."

And maybe they might actually bump the Yankees-Red Sox soap opera off the front page. Unless, of course, Alex Rodriguez goes to the park.

Jim Caple is a senior writer for ESPN.com.