--RF Wladimir Balentien has reached base safely in 17 consecutive games, drawing a walk or getting a hit in each of his starts dating back to May 8.
--LHP Jarrod Washburn is being skipped Saturday against Detroit and instead will pitch Tuesday against the Angels. Washburn has lost seven consecutive decisions to the Tigers. --CF Ichiro Suzuki stole his 23rd base Wednesday against Boston. Ichiro, who is 23-for-25 in steal tries, is on pace for 69 steals after having never stolen more than 56, which he got as a rookie in 2001. Of his 23 steals, 17 have come in the month of May.
--RHP Brandon Morrow will be in the Seattle starting rotation at some point, just not this year. Morrow's eighth-inning efforts Tuesday and Wednesday make it hard for the Mariners to take him out of that role. However, if Seattle gets to a point where the club has nothing to play for, it's possible that the Mariners might rethink the wait-till-next-year strategy.
--2B Jose Lopez is, in the mind of manager John McLaren, a natural in the No. 2 spot in the lineup. However, McLaren has had to move Lopez around, including Wednesday when Lopez was back in the No. 5 spot. And there may be more of that, because Lopez is hitting .500 (10-for-20) when batting fifth. As a No. 2 hitter, he's at .292 with both of his home runs and 19 of his 25 RBIs. Lopez leads all AL second baseman with a .298 average and is second in RBIs to Texas' Ian Kinsler, who has 32.
BY THE NUMBERS: 9 -- Seattle pitching allowed nine runs or more in five straight games Tuesday through Saturday. That's the second longest such streak in Seattle history.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "I'm a tough guy. I feel I'm at my best with my back to the wall." -- Manager John McLaren.
