Final score: Mariners 6, Angels 5
M's go to 3-3 in Cactus League play.

Brandon Morrow was a little shaky at the end, but he got the out when he had to.
A few postgame notes:
-McLaren said he liked what he saw from Bedard, good velocity, good breaking balls.
-McLaren said roster cuts will be made after the team gets back from a three-game road trip to Tucson this Sunday through Tuesday.
-Asked about Ichiro being hitless, McLaren joked: "He better pick it up or he's going to Triple A."
-Pitching line on J.J. Putz: 1 INN, 3 hits, 2 earned runs, K.
-Pitching line on Morrow: 1 INN, 1 hit, 1 earned run, 2 BB, K.

Bottom 6

Mariners regulars still in the game. Ichiro is 0-for-3 with an RBI. Betancourt 3-for-4. Johjima 2-for-3. Bloomquist 2-for-3. Now as I write, the regulars are leaving the field to an ovation. It's now 6-4 Seattle.

Bottom 5

Willie Bloomquist just had a double-digit pitch at-bat and drove in a run with an RBI single. That was right after Jose Lopez knocked in two runs with a hit. M's get a three-spot in the fifth, 6-2 after 5.

Being Erik Bedard

Oh man, I know this topic is going to start something. The reporters who cover the team just got back from talking to Bedard after his performance. Total time on my recorder of the interview session: 1 minute, 18 seconds. Even the security guard who let us back into the stadium knew the deal.

"Didn't have much to say to ya, did he?" she said.

Yup, Bedard was...Bedard. He set the tone right off.
"You get four questions," he told the group.

1. Can you tell the difference from start to start?
Bedard: "No, not really. I was throwing same as last week. They just didn't hit it today."

2. This is a team you're going to face a lot this year. Is there anything you can get from them the first time you're looking at them (the Angels)?
Bedard: "No, not really. They're in the same boat as us. Just trying to get ready for the season and trying to get in shape."

3. How helpful was it to have the kind of defense you got from Willie (Bloomquist) at third base today?"
Bedard: "Helped me a lot. I wouldn't have gotten out of the second inning if he wouldn't have made those plays."

4 My question: "The third pitch to Figgins..."
Bedard interrupts: "Last one."
Me: "You hit him with strikes the first two. The third one, you looked like you were a little upset. Did you miss the location a little on that one?
Bedard: "I looked upset? Really? To start the game off, you mean? Curveball. Yeah, well, he hit it. I was trying to get him (Figgins) out with less than four pitches. He hit a triple."
(Someone tries to ask another one...
Bedard: "That's it. Four. Later." (He walks off).

By the way, what did I say about Sexson picking it? He just snared a sinking liner from Big Bad Vlad Guerrero for the third out of the top of the fifth. Fans gave him a partial standing ovation.
Dblog: 3-2 Padres over M's in the B game, seven innings.

Top 4

Angels cut it to 3-2 on a single by Howie Kendrick to drive in Torii Hunter with one out off Cha Seung Baek.
Mariners have 8 hits in this game.

Bottom 3rd

UPDATE: Second hit of the game for Norton, who was 1-for-10 coming into the game. Norton stole a base in the second inning on what appeared to be a busted hit-and-run play with Jose Lopez at the plate.

If this goes according to form, Bedard's day is over. 3 innings, 2 hits, 1 run, one K, one BB. I had him for 38 total pitches, 26 for strikes. Perhaps he'll have a little more to say about this one than the last.

Sexson is hitting the ball hard. He just lined out to third. He also made a saving scoop of a throw in the ground from Bloomquist in the top of the inning.

Bottom 2

UPDATE: Betancourt just got his second hit of the game. Ichiro got an RBI with a sacrifice fly to score Greg Norton from third. Bad throw and even worse pickup by the catcher for the Angels, Jeff Mathis. 3-1 Mariners.
Two out, runners on first and second.

Got this started a little late, but so far Bedard looks better than his first outing. He's started out 6 of first 9 hitter with a strike. Angels' Figgins did a good job going opposite field with his triple to lead off the game. Since then, Bedard has settled down. I could see the frustration on his face after the Figgins hit, must not have located it well.

The Mariners brought the lumber in the first. Granted they're facing Nick Adenhart, who has never pitched in the majors but is a top Angels prospect.

Ichiro is still hitless in the spring, but Raul Ibanez is now batting .500 (4-for-8) after his triple that drove in Betancourt. And Sexson's double in the first was a bomb. That ball is out in more than a few major league parks. He hit it to straightaway center off the wall on the fly and it's 410 feet just to the left and right of dead center. That drove in Ibanez and it's 2-1 Mariners as they bat here.

Game time: 1:05 p.m. and only 67 degrees.