--C Jamie Burke, whose last extended play at first base came as a minor-leaguer in 2006, played the position Thursday because of injuries to others. Burke committed an error on the first grounder hit toward him, but nothing came of it and he settled in nicely after that.
--DH Wladimir Balentien stole second base in the seventh inning Thursday. It was the first steal and just the second attempt for Balentien in 80 career games. He does, however, have 69 minor steals while playing in the Mariners' system from 2001-08. --DH Ken Griffey Jr. and RF Ichiro Suzuki both were honored by the Mariners in pregame ceremonies Wednesday. Griffey was honored for having hit his 400th homer as a Mariner earlier in the homestand, while Ichiro was lauded for having broken the all-time Japanese hits record with his 3,086th. Both were given framed pictures of the moment.
BY THE NUMBERS: 3 -- Wild pitches thrown by the Mariners Sunday. That's one shy of the club record. RHP Carlos Silva, RHP Mark Lowe and RHP Shawn Kelley each threw one.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "He just keeps getting better and better." -- Manager Don Wakamatsu on LHP Erik Bedard.
