SEATTLE - This was the Erik Bedard the Seattle Mariners believed they were getting to be the ace of their staff.

AP

Starting pitcher Erik Bedard throws to Oakland Athletics' Kurt Suzuki in the first inning.

Making his first start in three weeks, Bedard gave up just two hits in 6 2-3 scoreless innings in his return from the disabled list, and the Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics 5-3 on Saturday night.

Having not started since April 8 with inflammation in his left hip, Bedard's only mistakes were four walks, a double to Bobby Crosby in the fifth and Emil Brown's single in the seventh. Bedard (2-0) struck out four and threw just 95 pitches.

Seattle's Greg Norton, hitting in the designated hitter spot for struggling Jose Vidro, had three hits and three RBIs, including a two-run double in the bottom of the eighth after Oakland chose to intentionally walk Adrian Beltre.

While Norton's bat was a pleasant surprise, it was Bedard's performance that was impressive. He was only threatened once when Crosby reached third after his double. But following a walk to Bobby Murphy, Bedard got Rajai Davis to ground into a double play to end the fifth.

Bedard used his sharp fastball and offspeed pitches to keep the A's guessing. Bedard threw 19 first-pitch strikes and there were only two fly ball outs off Bedard that reached the outfield.

He was pulled with two outs in the seventh after a four-pitch walk to Chris Denorfia.

Seattle's bullpen continued to be shaky, including closer J.J. Putz, who gave up two runs in the ninth on Daric Barton's one-out single with the bases loaded. Putz got a weak pop up from Kurt Suzuki for the second out, but walked Mark Ellis on four pitches to load the bases again. Putz finally ended it, getting a check-swing grounder from Mike Sweeney out in front of home plate for the final out.

Reliever Sean Green gave up a key walk in the seventh, before being bailed out by Arthur Rhodes, and Brandon Morrow surrendered a solo homer to Sweeney with two outs in the eighth.

Oakland's Justin Duchscherer (1-1) returned from the disabled list as well on Saturday after being out since April 8 with a strained right biceps. Duchscherer, making the switch from being a reliever to a starter, gave up just two runs in five innings, but manager Bob Geren cut short his night after just 73 pitches. He is now 0-5 in his career against Seattle.

Seattle pieced together its runs thanks to key doubles.

Yuniesky Betancourt doubled with one-out in the third and scored on Ichiro Suzuki's floating single to center. In the fifth, Norton singled and went to third on Richie Sexson's double into the left-field corner. Norton then scored on Brad Wilkerson's infield single.

Norton then drove home Beltre with a single to center in the sixth after Beltre doubled, before Norton capped the night with his double in the eighth. Norton had just eight at-bats coming into the night.