M's Notebook | Feierabend grounds Ortiz

It wasn't until his final pitch of the day that Mariners starter Ryan Feierabend finally recorded a ground-ball out.

But what a moment he picked, getting David Ortiz to bounce out to second with the bases loaded and two out in the fifth inning. The crowd at Safeco Field was on its feet and cheering in anticipation as Feierabend let fly with a full-count fastball up in the zone that Ortiz couldn't get enough of.

Although the 1-0 lead he handed the bullpen didn't hold up, the 21-year-old emerged with some renewed confidence, if not the victory.

"Once I got through that first inning, it was definitely a confidence builder for me," said Feierabend, shelled over 2-2/3 innings of a 16-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds in his previous outing last Friday. "The last time out against Cincinnati, I ended up giving up four in the first. So, coming out and throwing up a zero in that first was definitely huge."

Feierabend had recorded 11 outs on fly balls and three strikeouts before the Ortiz at-bat in the fifth. He's primarily a flyball pitcher and — the way Wednesday's game was going — the power-hitting Ortiz seemed the least likely candidate to be grounding into outs off him.

"Right there, that's exactly what we wanted him to do in that situation," Feierabend said of Ortiz. "Get a ground ball or get him out any way possible. I'm not really a sinkerball pitcher. I throw a sinker every now and then. I tend to use my changeup to get a lot of pop-ups and that's what happened to me today. I was very fortunate to get that ground ball with Ortiz."

Putting up the putouts

Mariners center fielder Ichiro chased down so many early fly balls for Feierabend that he wound up with 11 putouts in the game. That's just one shy of the major-league record shared by Earl Clark and Lyman Bostock among others.

Clark and Bostock accomplished their feats in a regulation nine innings. There have been nine other players who managed a dozen putouts in games that went extra innings, though all were in contests longer than the 11 frames Ichiro played on Wednesday.

After failing to hit off Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka in their first two meetings this year, Ichiro singled off him to drive home a run in the third inning.

Lowe throws short simulated game

All that lost sleep just for a few minutes of fun was still worth it.

That's what sidelined Mariners reliever Mark Lowe was saying after his long-awaited simulated game Wednesday morning. Lowe threw just 15 pitches over one inning, fastballs in the 88-89 mph range, but the moment was important in that he was facing hitters for the first time since last August.

"When I got done I was like, 'That's it? I couldn't sleep all night for that?' " Lowe said with a laugh. "Five minutes of glory, but it was worth it. It was great to get back out there.

"I just sat there in bed last night because I couldn't wait for today to come. I also woke up yesterday thinking it was today. So, I've obviously been looking forward to it."

Lowe is to throw another simulated game on Saturday and then he'll head out on a rehabilitation assignment. Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said Lowe will make at least three minor-league appearances of an inning each and may return before the All-Star break.

"With a reliever, you can get a three-appearance rehab [done] in five days," Hargrove said. "We'll just see how it goes. Right now, the plan is for three appearances."

Notes

• Mariners catcher Jamie Burke threw out Coco Crisp on a steal attempt at second base after his leadoff single in the first inning. It was only the second time in 10 tries this season that Burke has nabbed a runner trying to steal.

• Seattle tied a club record by not allowing any earned runs over 11 innings. The Mariners had previously done that in a 5-1 win over Boston on July 17, 1986.

For the record

Streak: W5

Home: 24-15

Road: 18-18

vs. AL West: 12-10

vs. L.A.: 2-7

vs. Oakland: 4-1

vs. Texas: 6-2

vs. AL East: 12-7

vs. AL Central: 9-7

vs. NL: 9-9

vs. LHP: 15-6

vs. RHP: 27-27

Day: 12-11

Night: 30-22

One-run: 13-9

Extra innings: 3-0

Home attendance

Wednesday's crowd: 43,448

Season total: 1,198,639

Biggest crowd: 46,340 (June 22)

Smallest crowd: 16,555 (May 2)

Average (39 dates): 30,734

2006 average (39 dates): 27,463