Worth noting

• On Sunday, manager Lloyd McClendon was quick to praise starting pitcher James Paxton after Paxton allowed just a run over 6 1/3 innings in Seattle's 2-1, extra-inning loss Saturday night. Paxton earned a no-decision. He fanned four and didn't issue a walk. Of his 77 pitches, 56 were strikes.

"I thought his outing yesterday was really good. He was up and down six times. I thought he did a great job," McClendon said. "Obviously, he started to elevate a little bit in the seventh inning there, but I couldn't have been happier with what he did yesterday. He kept us in the ballgame and gave us a chance to win."

• McClendon reiterated that Chris Taylor is the starting shortstop. Taylor made a fielding error that set up Conor Gillaspie's 10th-inning, go-ahead single Saturday, but the rookie has a hit in each of his 12 big league starts.

"It's not easy coming up as a rookie, just playing period, but to come up and be a vital part of a team that's trying to make it to the playoffs and produce, play solid, that's tough," McClendon said. "He's handled it very well. He's actually played extremely well in the field. The ball came up on him yesterday and he didn't make the play, but that's over with."