Notebook | M's play it safe, scratch Bedard

For the second time this season, Mariners left-hander Erik Bedard on Sunday was scratched from his scheduled start because of a hip injury.

After missing last Sunday's game against Baltimore, Bedard came back to pitch this past Tuesday in Tampa Bay. He threw 107 pitches and got the victory in Seattle's 6-5 win over the Rays.

But Mariners' manager John McLaren said that Bedard reported on Friday that his hip was sore again. They held out hope that he would improve enough to pitch Sunday, but when he reported discomfort Sunday morning, he was scratched and replaced by Cha Seung Baek.

The injury was officially termed inflammation in his left hip. "We were hoping medication would kick in like it did in Baltimore," McLaren said. "It has kicked, but he still feels it a little bit, so we're going to play it on the safe side. He's felt better every day but we don't feel he's well enough to go out there."

"We'll see how it feels tomorrow. If it feels OK, he'll throw a 'pen and we'll slot him next week some time."

McLaren called the injury "a nagging type thing," and added: "We don't think it's a serious thing, but we don't want it to lead to something that could be serious, let's put it that way."

McLaren said that it was his understanding Bedard had a similar hip condition eight years ago.

"It came and went, and we thought this would happen the other day," he said. "He recovered real nicely from it and pitched a good game, then it flared up again. When it comes to pitchers and the legs, you have to be careful."

Beltre misses start

Bedard wasn't the only injured Mariner on Sunday. Third baseman Adrian Beltre was held out of the starting lineup because of what was termed tightness in his right hamstring. He will be evaluated today.

"He wanted to play today," McLaren said. "We want to make sure it doesn't flare up and he has something that is nagging."

Putz makes progress

Seattle closer J.J. Putz continues to progress well in his recovery from a rib injury that has landed him on the 15-day disabled list. He threw off a mound Sunday for the first time since landing on the DL on April 2.

"It felt good, really good throwing out there," Putz said of the six-minute session at what he termed 80 to 85 percent effort. "We'll see how it feels tomorrow. That's the biggest thing."

Putz, who is eligible to come off the DL on Thursday, described his injury — inflammation where cartilage attaches to the rib — as minor.

"The way I understand it, once it's gone, it's pretty hard for it to come back," he said.

The Mariners plan to see how Putz feels today and then formulate a plan for the remainder of his recovery.

Notes

• Greg Norton made his Mariners' debut pinch-hitting for Mike Morse in the sixth, and lined a bases-loaded single to drive in the Mariners' first run of the game. Norton, a switch-hitter, singled from the left side later in the game, giving him hits from both sides.

• Torrid Raul Ibanez drove in three more runs Sunday. His two-run double in the seventh was his 10th extra-base-hit, most in the American League. He tied a club record with at least three RBI in his third consecutive game. Ibanez finished the Angels' series hitting .538 (7 for 13) with five runs and nine RBI.

• Willie Bloomquist was sent home with flu-like symptoms for the first two games of the series, but he was at the ballpark Sunday.

• When Ichiro grounded into a double play Saturday, it was just the 35th time he had done so in his career in 18,805 plate appearances. But the interesting statistic was this: It marked the first time he had ever recorded a 3-6-1 (first to shortstop to pitcher) DP.

• The game-time temperature Saturday of 80 degrees was the highest ever in April at Safeco Field. The previous high was 74 degrees on April 22, 2005, against Cleveland. The temperature at game time on Sunday was a more typical 50 degrees.

Larry Stone: 206-464-3146 or lstone@seattletimes.com

For the record

Streak: L1

Home: 4-2

Road: 2-5

vs. AL West: 4-2

vs. L.A.: 2-1

vs. Oakland: 0-0

vs. Texas: 2-1

vs. AL East: 2-5

vs. AL Central: 0-0

vs. NL: 0-0

vs. LHP: 0-2

vs. RHP: 6-5

Day: 2-4

Night: 4-3

One-run: 1-3

Extra innings: 0-0

Home attendance

Sunday's crowd: 30,664

Season total: 187,434

Biggest crowd: 46,334 (March 31)

Smallest crowd: 21,349 (April 2)

Average (6 dates): 31,239

2007 average (6 dates): 28,390