Bag luck is bad luck for Angels in Seattle

Reporting from Seattle — The Angels do not walk under any ladders on their way into Safeco Field. There are no broken mirrors in the visiting clubhouse bathroom and no black cats roaming the dugout.

But they’ve had a terrible run of luck in the home of the Seattle Mariners this season.

On May 19, the Angels lost a game here when center fielder Torii Hunter, a nine-time Gold Glove Award winner, lost a routine ball in the sun, allowing the winning run to score.

And they lost in bizarre fashion again here Wednesday night, when a two-out, bases-loaded ground ball that appeared headed right for Angels shortstop Erick Aybar hit the second base bag and bounced into center field.

Instead of a groundout to end the seventh inning, Carlos Peguero had a two-run single that broke a scoreless tie and pushed the Mariners toward a 3-1 victory over the Angels.

In a cruel twist of fate, it was also Peguero who hit the fly ball that Hunter lost here in May.

“That dude has a lot of luck,” Hunter said of Peguero. “When we were here the last time, he hit the sun ball. I need to take him to the casino. I think we can win.”

Chone Figgins opened the bottom of the seventh with a double to right field and took third on Jack Wilson’s sacrifice bunt. Ichiro Suzuki, who doubled twice in his first three at-bats, was walked intentionally to put runners on first and third.

Angels starter Ervin Santana (3-7) struck out Brendan Ryan, Suzuki stealing second as the Mariners shortstop swung through strike three. Justin Smoak was walked intentionally to load the bases.

After checking his swing on a 1-and-2 breaking ball in the dirt, Peguero hit a grounder up the middle that Aybar, shading to his left, was in position to field before the ball hit the bag and caromed into center field for a two-run single and a 2-0 lead.

“It bounced way over Aybar’s head,” Hunter said. “Why couldn’t it bounce to Aybar? Everyone on the field threw their hands up like, ‘What the heck?’ We had the ground-ball out. We would have been out of the inning. But that’s baseball. Right when you think you’ve seen it all, that happens.”

The fluke play might not have been such a difference maker had the Angels mustered more than three hits through seven innings.

“It’s obviously a bad break, but when you’re not playing at a high enough level to absorb those things, that’s what happens,” Manager Mike Scioscia said.

“We had the out, it hit the bag, that’s part of the game. Right now, the margin between winning and losing is very tight, and if you don’t get a break, we’re going to pay a big price for it.”

Peguero’s hit made a winner of Seattle left-hander Erik Bedard, who appears to have regained his form after having three season-ending shoulder surgeries in the past three years.

Bedard, who missed the entire 2010 season while recovering from surgeries to repair a labrum tear and remove a bone spur, gave up only three hits in seven shutout innings, striking out five and walking none.

Bedard (4-4) was backed by some solid defense, as left fielder Mike Carp made a leaping catch at the wall to rob Mark Trumbo of a home run in the second and center fielder Franklin Gutierrez made a diving catch of Erick Aybar’s fly ball in the sixth.

The Angels nicked reliever David Pauley for a run in the eighth when Peter Bourjos led off with a walk, pinch-hitter Russell Bran-

yan drew a one-out walk and Aybar hit an RBI single to right that made it 2-1.

But Hunter flied to left, and Bobby Abreu struck out swinging at a changeup to end the inning.

The Mariners got that run back in the bottom of the eighth when Greg Halman, who entered in the top of the eighth as a defensive replacement in left field, crushed his first major league home run over the center-field wall off Rich Thompson for a 3-1 lead.

Seattle closer Brandon League threw a scoreless ninth for his 19th save.

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com