--RHP R.A. Dickey had a hyperactive knuckleball Sunday in Minnesota, so much so that he tied the big league record with four wild pitches in the fifth inning. "I honestly don't know what to say," said Dickey, who is seldom at a loss for words. "Charlie Hough (one of Dickey's knuckleball gurus) told me a long time ago that pitching inside the Metrodome makes the knuckler react violently." The Dickey knuckleball is somewhat prone to wild pitches, but he only had seven in 95 2/3 innings coming into Sunday's game.
--LF Raul Ibanez had five hits, including a pair of doubles, Sunday, a performance that is one shy of his personal best of six hits. He's now hitting .538 (14-for-26) against the Twins this year. And his total of 38 doubles is one more than his previous career best set in 2002. --SS Yuniesky Betancourt is the toughest player in the AL for a pitcher to walk. C Kenji Johjima ranks third on that list. But both men walked Sunday in the eighth inning against Twins' reliever Matt Guerrier. It was one of two walks for Johjima on the day, only the third time this year he's walked more than once in a game.
--OF/INF Mike Morse, out all season after suffering a separated left shoulder late in spring training, is on the Mariners' road trip, and for the first time this season is taking batting practice, throwing and going through a mostly normal baseball routine. He was supposed to be out for the year, but he'd like to get a chance to play in a few games before the season's over.
--3B Adrian Beltre, who is playing with assorted injuries including some hand and hamstring problems, got to serve as the DH on Sunday. Beltre will be back at third come Monday in Chicago. "You can't get him out of the lineup," manager Jim Riggleman said. "He plays when other guys might not." It was just the second appearance at DH for Beltre, who has played in 120 of the Mariners'123 games.
--RHP Carlos Silva went on the disabled list Saturday with elbow tendinitis. The injury will require some rest, but Seattle hopes to have him back in the rotation in early September.
--CF Wladimir Balentien and C Kenji Johjima hit back-to-back homers in the sixth inning Sunday, just the second time the Mariners have gone back-to-back this season. And, coupled with a two-run homer by 3B Adrian Beltre earlier in the inning, the Mariners had three homers in an inning for the first time since Aug. 27, 2004.
--RF Ichiro Suzuki was brought in from the outfield and made part of a five-man infield briefly in the ninth-inning Saturday with the Mariners in a tie game against the Twins. It was the first time Ichiro had ever been used in that manner. "I thought he was calling me in to pitch," said Ichiro, who lists it as one of his career goals to pitch in a big league game.
--LHP Ryan Feierabend was promoted from Class AAA Tacoma, where he was 7-1 with a 2.04 era with the Rainiers, to Seattle to join the Seattle rotation in place of RHP R.A. Dickey. Feierabend probably will be given the chance to pitch every fifth day the rest of the season.
BY THE NUMBERS: 3 -- The Mariners scored three runs Friday, all without the benefit of an RBI. It was only the second time in club history the team had scored three or more runs without the benefit of an RBI. Two runs scored on a Twins' throwing error and the other on a double play grounder.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "There's been five weeks' worth of games just like that." -- Manager Jim Riggleman, after Saturday's bottom-of-the-ninth loss to Minnesota.
