Notebook | Ichiro reels in eighth straight All-Star bid

Ichiro went 1 for 6 with a walk in the Mariners' 2-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers Sunday and has not gotten an extra-base hit in 100 straight at-bats, the longest such stretch of his career. He made two athletic catches to prevent Tigers hits, but he didn't exactly have exactly an All-Star-caliber performance as a hitter.

But an All-Star he is, for the eighth straight season and seventh as a starter for the American League. The Mariners star right fielder, who is batting .302, finished third in fan voting (2,012,912) among AL outfielders, earning a place in the starting lineup for the July 15 game at Yankee Stadium.

"Usually I go there as an opponent," Ichiro, 34, said of the venerable New York ballpark through an interpreter. "I usually get booed when I go over there by the fans. But this time I'm not going there as an opponent, so I guess part of me in a special way is kind of disappointed that I don't get to enjoy being booed by them."

Ichiro, Most Valuable Player of last year's game in San Francisco, is the only Mariner on the team in 2008. He has been an All-Star in each of his seasons in the U.S., and was also an All-Star in Japan for seven years in a row before coming to Seattle.

That's 15 straight years as a big-league All-Star.

Ichiro said he understood why none of his teammates received the honor, based on the Mariners' performance this season.

Ichiro is third in the AL in hits (111) and second in stolen bases (34), and he has started all 88 games this season. He also has 29 multihit games, is 19 hits shy of 3,000 in his career — including his time in Japan — and has collected 200 or more hits in every season as a Mariner.

"I'm happy for Ichiro," Mariners manager Jim Riggleman said. "It's a great honor."

Ichiro said he would think about it if asked to take part in the Home Run Derby.

Hernandez on track

Felix Hernandez threw a bullpen session before Sunday's game and has another one scheduled for Tuesday. If he feels no soreness and can push off the sprained left ankle that landed him on the 15-day disabled list last month, he will start Friday's game at Kansas City, Riggleman said.

"He's going to have another, heavier workout Tuesday, then he's going to take a couple of days off and pitch Friday," Riggleman said.

Hernandez can come off the DL as soon as Thursday.

The starting rotation will change either way, as Erik Bedard complained of tightness in his left shoulder after Friday's 4-1 win over Detroit, in which he was the winning pitcher, and will not make his scheduled start Wednesday at Oakland.

Miguel Batista, who pitched two innings of relief Saturday and one Sunday, is tentatively scheduled to start Wednesday in place of Bedard, but could go Thursday, Riggleman said.

No break for Putz

Reliever J.J. Putz won't have much of a vacation during the All-Star break, with the prospect of making a couple of rehab appearances before coming off the DL.

When he rejoins the team, Riggleman isn't likely to immediately place Putz (elbow) back in the closer's role. He'll use Putz earlier in relief and keep Brandon Morrow as the closer for now.

"Just to kind of get the rust off," Riggleman said. "Then just go from there."

For the record

Streak: L1

Home: 19-27

Road: 16-26

vs. AL West: 10-14

vs. L.A.: 3-6

vs. Oakland: 3-2

vs. Texas: 4-6

vs. AL East: 11-18

vs. AL Cent.: 5-12

vs. NL: 9-9

vs. LHP: 9-14

vs. RHP: 26-39

Day: 10-18

Night: 25-35

One-run: 10-16

Extra innings: 2-3

Home attendance

Sunday's crowd: 29,083

Season total: 1,295,282

Biggest crowd: 46,334 (March 31)

Smallest crowd: 15,818 (May 6)

Average (46 dates): 28,158

2007 average (46 dates): 31,786