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CLEVELAND () – The Seattle Mariners’ game in Cleveland was postponed by rain Sunday, the second straight day a contest between the teams was called off because of inclement weather.

Unlike Saturday’s game, which was halted in the bottom of the first inning, Sunday’s contest never began. The original 1:05 p.m. start time was delayed while the grounds crew prepared the field, which had been hit by heavy rains since Saturday morning.

The postponement was announced at 3:15 p.m. No makeup dates have been announced.

The Mariners return to Cleveland for a three-game series Aug. 22-24. Both teams have an off day on Aug. 25.

Closer David Aardsma had another setback in his comeback from December hip surgery, forcing the Seattle Mariners to send him for tests on his right forearm and cancel a scheduled bullpen session Saturday.

Aardsma hasn’t pitched in a game since Sept. 19, and a rehab assignment in Tacoma was cut short when he experienced tightness in his right forearm.

While playing catch on Friday, that forearm tightened again – and the Mariners sent Aardsma for a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test. By game time Saturday, the team said it had not seen the results of that test.

“He’s still feeling it in his forearm, we still don’t think it’s anything serious, but we want to take every precaution,” manager Eric Wedge. “We’ll see what we get back from the doctors, then go from there.”

Aardsma had back-to-back seasons with 30 or more saves the past two years, and had hoped to be ready by May 1. The timetable now is in limbo.

GUTIERREZ SITS

After Wedge talked to Tacoma manager Daren Brown Saturday afternoon, the Mariners decided to have Franklin Gutierrez held out of the Rainiers’ game at Cheney Stadium.

“The weather has been really bad. We’ve got a day game tomorrow, then they have a day game the next day and go on the road that night,” Wedge said.

Told there was a 70 percent chance of rain Saturday, the Mariners elected to have Gutierrez skip the game rather than risk their Gold Glove center fielder on wet ground.

“We’ve got to discipline ourselves to make sure that we don’t push it on a particular day just to save a couple of extra days when we’ve got 41/2 months left in the season,” Wedge said.

THE MAGIC FOUR

That three-run rule remains in place for the Mariners, who have now scored three runs or fewer in 20 of their first 33 games.

In those 20 games, they’re 6-14.

When scoring more than three runs, Seattle is 10-3 this season.

OVERWORKED OLIVO?

Miguel Olivo got the night off Saturday after making 11 consecutive starts behind the plate. How long can he maintain that kind of pace?

“We knew we had these scheduled off days, but now we’re coming into a stretch where we’re going to play 16 in a row, day off, then play 20 in a row,” Wedge said. “He’s going to need those off days. When you’re going through stretches when you have consistent off days, that’s when you can push guys a little bit, and that’s what we’ve done.

“You can’t just look at the batting average. You’ve got to look at what he’s done lately, what direction he’s going and what he’s meant to the ballclub. I’m never going to just look at numbers.”

ON T

Seattle hosts Chicago in a 1:10 p.m. game today that will be televised by Root Sports. Probable starting pitchers: Mark Buehrle (2-3, 4.37 ERA) vs. Erik Bedard (1-4, 5.23).

larry.larue@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/mariners

Shawn Kelley asked for a couple extra pitches after completing a simulated inning at Safeco Field on Wednesday.

Can’t blame the Seattle Mariners reliever for wanting to spend a little more time on that mound after spending the last 10 months off it.

“I felt good. I still have to continue to get my arm strength,” Kelley said. “But I was basically looking at throwing all my pitches and not having any pain and having some decent command. I achieved all of that, I felt like, so it was a good day.”

Kelley threw about 20 pitches, mixing in his slider and changeup with his fastball against Mariners hitters Chris Gimenez, Luis Rodriguez and Ryan Langerhans. The right-hander is tentatively scheduled to throw another simulated inning before Seattle’s game against the Chicago White Sox on either Saturday or Sunday, and said if all continues to go well, he could be sent out for a rehab assignment as early as next week.

Kelley is still on track for a June 1 return from the 60-day disabled list, where he has resided since undergoing Tommy John surgery on Sept. 1. He was originally placed on the DL with elbow inflammation on June 25 of last season, and hasn’t pitched in a game since June 15.

Wednesday was another step toward doing that again. Kelley said the day’s throwing session was a nice building block after the bullpen sessions he threw in Peoria, Ariz., as part of extended spring training.

“It’s good to finally be out on the mound, and (to) have a hitter in the box that’s actually swinging the bat is a big step,” Kelley said. “Obviously, rehabbing when there’s a scoreboard and counts and hitters and working my way back here are all equally important. But this is a big step because I felt like I kind of conquered being able to throw a bullpen and recover from that, and be effective and get out of the bullpen what I need to get out of it. It’s a good next step.

“Once a hitter gets in there, there’s a little bit more of something on the line and a little bit higher level of energy exerted. It was good, because you can only get so much out of throwing bullpens.”

Manager Eric Wedge agreed.

“It’s big to get on the mound, first to start throwing bullpens is a step, but it’s a significant step as well to get on the mound and face hitters,” Wedge said. “Just being out there on the field is a big step. But he really looked good today.”

Kelley’s not the only Mariners reliever eyeing a return to the diamond. David Aardsma has completed four rehab assignments at Triple-A Tacoma, but is currently resting a sore forearm and will be shut down for a couple days before heading out for another outing in the minors.

Aardsma said he noticed the forearm pain after his second rehab pearance.

“It was just coming on a little bit,” Aardsma said. “It’s one of those things that crept up a little bit. It wasn’t too bad, and then it got a little tighter and tighter.

“We’re being real cautious with it and it’s getting better every day. Just take a little time and don’t let it become something bigger.”

Aardsma had offseason surgery to repair the labrum in his left hip, and Wedge originally thought the closer would need three or four rehab outings before rejoining the team. But Aardsma has struggled somewhat, and Wedge said last week that he isn’t quite ready yet to pitch in a Major League game again.

The stiffness in his forearm isn’t helping, though neither Wedge nor Aardsma seemed too concerned about it.

Aardsma said he’s frustrated by the most recent setback, though still chalked up his recent rehab outings as progress. He also said the cold weather in a couple of Tacoma’s road games may have hurt his cause.

“It was pretty bad. It was really cold a couple of nights in Tacoma, and Salt Lake and Reno were really bad,” Aardsma said. “The wind chill was in the teens one night and it hailed the day of one game. It was tough, and that could have contributed to it.”

GUTIERREZ BATS, PLAYS CF IN TACOMA

Franklin Gutierrez played five innings of center field and went 0-for-3 in his second rehab pearance as he recovers from a year-long bout with irritiable bowel syndrome.

Wedge said Gutierrez will be Tacoma’s designated hitter on Wednesday night, and that he’ll continue to alternate between center field and DH.

“We’re on t with him, which is nice,” Wedge said. “It’s nice to see him go out and play. Look forward to being able to seeing him play here.”

WORM BURNERS

Former Mariners reliever Mark Lowe was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock and added to the Rangers’ 25-man roster prior to Wednesday’s game. … Milton Bradley was back in Seattle’s lineup and playing left field after serving a one-game suspension on Tuesday for his ejection from Saturday’s game against Boston. … Eight of Seattle’s 14 wins have been comeback victories, tied for second-most in the American League with Cleveland and Toronto. Kansas City leads the league with 10 come-from-behind wins.

For more Seattle Mariners news, visit the front page of the Seattle Mariners blog.

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Seattle Mariners center fielder Franklin Gutierrez returned from the Mayo Clinic on Saturday and told reporters that he has been diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome. Shannon Drayer has the details over at MyNorthwest.com. Gutierrez missed a chunk of Spring Training and has been on the 15-day disabled list with stomach gastritis. He was set to make …

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