Notebook | Aching shoulder may keep Mariners starter Erik Bedard out until August

There appears a growing chance that Mariners starting pitcher Erik Bedard won't get back on a mound until August.

Bedard rejoined the team Friday and told the coaching staff he was unable to throw on the side during the All-Star break without any discomfort in his shoulder. The team has shut Bedard down for a few days as a result; he won't even attempt to play catch until Monday at the earliest.

Mariners manager Jim Riggleman said he'd like to see Bedard play catch a couple of times before allowing him to throw a bullpen session. That makes it nearly impossible that Bedard would make more than a single start by the July 31 trade deadline, if even that.

Riggleman was unable to put a timetable on Bedard's return. He also couldn't say whether the pitcher, whose last game was July 4, would go on a minor-league rehabilitation assignment -- though he did say he likely would if his inactivity stretched into August.

"We're not looking at trying to pitch him before the 31st," he said. "It's really all going to be based on how he feels. The 31st is kind of irrelevant when a guy's got a tender arm."

Pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre had told his hurlers to do their own throwing during the break. But Bedard's shoulder apparently bothered him to the point where he couldn't even get to that stage.

"I think it was more just range of motion on his own, realizing how it felt," Riggleman said. "That's a pretty good test for those guys."

Burke catches up

Catcher Jamie Burke hasn't seen a whole lot of Felix Hernandez from behind the plate. In fact, Burke's start Friday was just his second all season with Hernandez on the mound; the previous one came back in April.

"Last year, I think it took a quarter of the season before I caught him," Burke said.

He said he will usually take a more hands-off approach in the early going with a pitcher he hasn't seen much of.

"If I haven't caught someone for a while, I let them pitch their game," Burke said. "Then, after a few innings, if I see something, I might have something to say."

With the team working Jeff Clement in more and more, Burke figures to get squeezed out of the catching picture. The same thing is happening with Jose Vidro, who will lose first-base time now that Bryan LaHair has been called up from Class AAA Tacoma, while giving up DH time to Kenji Johjima and Clement when they aren't catching.

"He's kind of like Burke in that he's getting the short end of the stick right now," Riggleman said.

Notes

• The Mariners announced after Friday's game that they'd altered the rotation after Jarrod Washburn came down with flu-like symptoms. Miguel Batista will now pitch this afternoon, and Washburn will go on Monday against Boston.

• Though OF Mike Morse was sidelined for the season with a torn rotator cuff back in April, his daily routine hasn't gotten any easier than when he was actually playing. He shows up to Safeco Field every day for weight room-workouts and treatments on the shoulder.

"I'm working harder than when I played," he said.

• The Mariners opened a stretch of four games in which they will face a left-handed starter. Cleveland southpaw Aaron Laffey took the mound Friday, to be followed by Jeremy Sowers today, Cliff Lee on Sunday and Boston's Jon Lester on Monday.

• Ichiro singled in the first and fourth innings, his 38th and 39th consecutive hits that did not go for extra bases. His last extra-base hit came on June 14.

• Closer J.J. Putz threw 1-2/3 innings for Tacoma on Friday, retiring all five batters he faced on 17 pitches. The Mariners will reevaluate Putz Sunday and see whether he needs another minor-league outing.

For the record

Streak: W2

Home: 20-27

Road: 18-31

vs. AL West: 11-17

vs. L.A.: 3-6

vs. Oakland: 4-5

vs. Texas: 4-6

vs. AL East: 11-18

vs. AL Cent.: 7-14

vs. NL: 9-9

vs. LHP: 10-16

vs. RHP: 28-42

Day: 11-19

Night: 27-39

One-run: 11-19

Extra inn.: 2-4

Home attendance

Friday's crowd: 42,570

Season total: 1,337,852

Biggest crowd: 46,334 (March 31)

Smallest crowd: 15,818 (May 6)

Average (47 dates): 28,465

2007 average (47 dates): 31,602