Notes from the non-Milton Bradley front: Lowe on DL, Kelley called up

Out from the cloak of the Milton Bradley situation, there’s something hopeful about the Mariners tonight. Cliff Lee is pitching.

Let’s see if the hitters can give Lee more than they did in his spectacular debut last Friday, when he pitched seven shutout innings against the Rangners (but the M’s offense did the same for him).

With Bradley unavailable until further notice, manager Don Wakamatsu has jiggled and juggled the lineup again. This time, he has moved scorching-hot Franklin Gutierrez (he got three hits last night, so that qualifies as a hot hitter) down to the No. 4 spot and bumped Casey Kotchman up to No. 3. Ryan Langerhans, Bradley’s replacement in left field, will bat seventh.

A couple of notes:

Reliever Mark Lowe, who had a magnetic resonance imaging exam yesterday on his sore lower back, went on the 15-day disabled list because of a bone spur that is causing the inflammation.

To replace him, the Mariners have recalled Shawn Kelley from Class AAA Tacoma. The M’s had optioned him to Tacoma on Friday when Lee came off the disabled list.

Lowe, whose DL time is retroactive to Monday, dealt with a back problem during the last road trip but felt fine over the weekend. Then, on Sunday, he stumbled attempting to field a bunt and felt pain run down his right leg. Lowe is enthused that the problem is merely inflammation and not an alignment or disc problem in his back, and he’s confident he’ll return when the 15-day DL period passes.

Erik Bedard threw a 60-pitch bullpen this afternoon as he completes his recovery from shoulder surgery last August. “If everything goes well, we’ll look at a possible sim game,” Wakamatsu said. That will depend on how Bedard feels Thursday.

Tonight’s lineups:

RAYS

Jason Bartlett, shortstop

Carl Crawford, left field

Ben Zobrist, second base

Evan Longoria, third base

Carlos Pena, first base

B.J. Upton, center field

Pat Burrell, DH

Dioner Navarro, catcher

Gabe Kapler, right field

Right-hander Matt Garza, starting pitcher