Ichiro in the All-Star Game is as sure as death and taxes, an honor the Mariners outfielder has now achieved in all eight of his seasons playing American baseball. He will start for the seventh time in those eight appearances, holding off J.D. Drew of the Red Sox by about 130,000 votes to claim the third spot among AL outfielders.

You could even say Ichiro's All-Star streak is 15 years -- he was an All-Star for his final seven seasons in Japan.

Ichiro, the Mariners' only representative in the game, will join Texas' Josh Hamilton and Boston's Manny Ramirez in the AL's starting outfield. The game will be July 15 at Yankee Stadium, giving Ichiro one last game at the famous ballpark.

"Usually I go there as the opponent, and I usually get booed by the fans when I go there," he said. "But this time I'm not going as an opponent, so part of me, in a special way, is disappointed that I don't get to enjoy being booed."

Ichiro is a .333 hitter (6-for-18) in his seven All-Star appearances and last year was the game's MVP after going 3-for-3 with the first inside-the-park homer in All-Star history.

So what will he do for an encore? How about competing in the Home Run Derby?

"I can only do it if I'm asked," he said. "I'm not going to raise my hand myself and say, 'Yeah, I'll do it.' I'll think about it when I'm asked."

The one Mariner who might rightfully feel snubbed is reliever Brandon Morrow, who is 7-for-7 in save opportunities as the fill-in closer and has the sixth-lowest ERA in baseball history (0.65) for any player appearing in at least 30 games prior to the All-Star break.

Former Mariner George Sherrill, who went to Baltimore in the Erik Bedard trade last winter, has 27 saves as the Orioles' closer and earned his first All-Star berth. Five members of the AL team are former members of the Seattle organization: Sherrill, Jason Varitek, Carlos Guillen, Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz.

BEDARD BUMPED: Bedard has been struck by another nagging injury, this time a sore shoulder that will push back his next start by a few days.

Manager Jim Riggleman said he will skip Bedard on Wednesday in Oakland, instead likely starting Miguel Batista, who has made only one start in the past month after being sent to the bullpen.

Bedard first complained of the sore shoulder after Friday's game, in which he went five innings in beating Detroit. A doctor did not find any shoulder damage.

"We took him out of the game because the game situation dictated it, but after the game he told the trainer that his arm was tight," Riggleman said. "With the availability of Batista coming back, we just feel like (we need) to give him an extra day, two days, whatever it is."

Bedard went on the disabled list in April with inflammation in his left hip, then last month suffered back spasms. He hasn't been fully healthy much this season, which has kept him from building any kind of momentum.

"We're concerned that he's taking 100 pitches to get five innings, that type of thing has been going on," Riggleman said. "If your back hurts, if your hip hurts, if something hurts, you just get out of sync with your delivery and you're throwing more balls than strikes, and your pitch count is up."

In his past 10 starts, Bedard has pitched past the sixth inning just twice. He's taken a lot of criticism for being soft, which Riggleman said is unfair.

"We're whatever we are (18 games) under .500, and he's two over (with a 6-4 record)," the manager said. "It's a testament to how good this guy is, and it's a testament with the aggravating things he's had going on that he's pitched as effectively as he has. I think he's really gutted it out for us, whereas the perception has been that he's been coming out (early).

"He doesn't say much, and you don't get much out of him, but I think he's probably frustrated that the perception is that he wants to come out of games when he doesn't want to come out of games. He's mentioned, 'I'm not a five-inning pitcher. I pride myself on going deep into ballgames and I just physically haven't been able to do it.' "

FELIX GETTING CLOSE: In addition to Bedard's status, the return of Felix Hernandez likely will have to be factored into the starting rotation for the latter part of this week.

Hernandez, out since suffering a sprained ankle on a play at the plate June 23, threw his first full bullpen session Sunday. He'll have another bullpen session on Tuesday, and if all goes well he could start as soon as Thursday.

"There's a lot of different scenarios there, but in all likelihood it would be Batista Wednesday (and) Felix Thursday unless ... we want to give (Hernandez) until Friday," Riggleman said.

In that case, R.A. Dickey likely would pitch the Thursday game and Bedard, if he's ready, could be slotted in on Saturday.

EXTRA BASES: Riggleman said closer J.J. Putz (hyperextended elbow) could make a rehab start as early as the All-Star break and likely will make two rehab starts before being activated. ... Richie Sexson had a brutal day at the plate, going 0-for-6 and stranding four runners as the DH, with the Tigers intentionally walking Adrian Beltre ahead of him twice. Riggleman said he left Sexson in because of his .364 average against left-handers. ... The last time the Mariners played at least 15 innings was June 24, 2004, a 17-inning game at Texas. Seattle has played at least 15 innings 12 times in club history, going 7-5.

P-I reporter David Andriesen can be reached at 206-448-8061 or davidandriesen@seattlepi.com.

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