6:36 p.m.: Not the greatest second inning for the M's, who strand a runner at third as Brad Wilkerson takes a called third strike in the top of the frame. Jarrod Washburn then gave up the fourth double this series by Torii Hunter in the bottom of the inning, an ensuing single to Juan Rivera and a one-out sacrifice flky to left by Jeff Mathis that made it 1-0. Considering how the ball jumped off the bat of Mathis before dying in the air, the M's are fortunate to only be down one.

6:15 p.m.: A pair of three-up, three-down frames by both pitchers, so we're scoreless after one. Ichiro and Jose Lopez grounded out while Raul Ibanez took a called third strike. Chone Figgins then flied out to right off Jarrod Washburn, followed by a groundout from Gary Matthews Jr. and a lineout to second by Vlad Guerrero. The M's appear to be swinging early in the count against Ervin Santana. He does like to land early strikes and get ahead.

So, we've all concluded -- based on the last thread -- that Ervin Santana is either "a pansy'' on the road, or simply the victim of bad luck for playing in homer happy Arlington? OK. Let's see if he continues to pitch well at home tonight. J.J. Putz threw 41 pitches in a simulated game today, facing Willie Bloomquist, Miguel Cairo and Greg Norton. No idea what the final score was (no jokes, please), but Norton will be in tonight's lineup. Busy day for Norton. He took his wife and kids to Disneyland this afternoon, played in the simulated game, now gets to face Santana in a real contest.

Putz felt great, by the way. Says he is ready to go. Mariners manager John McLaren seemed to be leaning against a rehabilitation outing. But we'll know more by Tuesday.

Erik Bedard threw a 10-minute bullpen session and is said to have done well. He will throw another one on Tuesday if his arm feels OK tomorrow. As for him being better, let's hold off on any pronouncements. I'll wait to see if he can make two scheduled starts in a row before giving him a clean bill of health.

Sad news about John Marzano, who passed away at the age of 45 after suffering an apparent heart attack and falling down a flight of stairs. Raul Ibanez heard the news and was stunned. Marzano took good care of him when Ibanez was coming up with the Mariners. He had just text-messaged Ibanez a few days ago, congratulating him on his strong start and asking him to come on his MLB.com radio show.

The lineups:

MARINERS (9-9)

51 Ichiro CF
4 Jose Lopez 2B
28 Raul Ibanez LF
29 Adrian Beltre 3B
10 Greg Norton DH
44 Richie Sexson 1B
6 Brad Wilkerson RF
15 Jamie Burke C
6 Yuniesky Betancourt SS

56 Jarrod Washburn LHP

ANGELS (11-7)

9 Chone Figgins 3B
24 Gary Matthews Jr. CF
27 Vladimir Guerrero RF
11 Torii Hunter DH
21 Juan Rivera LF
39 Robb Quinlan 1B
3 Jeff Mathis C
18 Sean Rodriguez 2B
2 Erick Aybar SS

54 Ervin Santana RHP