ANAHEIM -- After a hot start, Mariners utility man Taylor Motter has seen his batting average drop to .207 at the season's midpoint. But he continues to make plays when given a chance, including a spectacular game-ending jump throw from deep in the hole to get Jefry Marte, after replacing Jean Segura at shortstop for the final two innings in Friday's 10-0 win.
"That was an unbelievable play," manager Scott Servais said. "For him to put the velocity on that ball across the diamond; a lot of guys will do it and it'll have a little hump to it. But that ball was still carrying when [first baseman Danny] Valencia caught it."
Motter, 27, has started games at every infield position, as well as left field this season, and has one of the strongest throwing arms on the team. He's also had a knack for timely hits, with two grand slams, a game-winning, two-out double at Philadelphia and 18 of 42 of his hits going for extra bases.
And in the first start of the season at first base and just second of his career at that position, he leaped over the tarp and into the crowd in Detroit back in April for an excellent game-ending catch.
"He's an interesting creature," Servais said. "The legend of Taylor Motter continues to grow."
Worth noting
• With his 31 RBIs and 10 home runs in June, catcher Mike Zunino became just the fifth Mariner to have 30-plus RBIs and 10-plus homers in the same month. It's an impressive list he joins: Ken Griffey Jr. did it three times, Edgar Martinez twice and Jay Buhner and Alex Rodriguez once each.
• Zunino wound up with not only the most RBIs in the Majors in June, he tied for the third-most home runs and had the third-best slugging percentage at .722. Teammate Ben Gamel had the most hits in the Majors in June with 42 and the second-highest batting average among qualifiers at .393.
• Hisashi Iwakuma threw a bullpen session Saturday at Angel Stadium as he continues working back from a shoulder issue that has sidelined him for two months. Servais said he didn't know what the next step yet was for the 36-year-old right-hander, who'll likely throw another bullpen or advance to a simulated-game situation against live hitters at some point next week.