Chone Figgins dropped to No. 8 in batting order | Mariners notebook

Chone Figgins says he never wants to be bumped down in the batting order. But having it happen this year, he added, is a bit different from when the Mariners attempted it last season.

Figgins was dropped to No. 8 in the Mariners' order before Monday's game while red-hot Brendan Ryan moved up to No. 2.

"Well, I never like to be moved down," Figgins said. "That's old. That's never going to change. But I know we're doing pretty good. But to keep the flow of the team going where we're going, it's OK. Because we're winning."

Figgins said his confidence level is still high.

But he added that he needs to start walking more and getting more hits on hittable pitches. Up to now, his walk rate is the lowest it's been in any season of his career "because I'm getting good pitches to hit. I'm getting some good pitches to hit and I'm not putting the swing on it that I need to."

Ryan said he understands why the Mariners made the move they did with Figgins.

"I don't have to say he's struggling, obviously," Ryan said. "He wants to be hitting over .300. When he gets right and hopefully that's today or tomorrow, we'll flip-flop. But right now we're just trying to win games. If (pitcher Michael) Pineda in the two-hole would help us win, then shame on us for not (trying). We're just trying to win and if he feels that can help us out, then so be it."

The Mariners' coaching staff let Ryan know he wasn't expected to change anything from what he's done. And he didn't do that Monday, driving in Ichiro with a first-inning run on a ground out.

Ryan then singled his next time up after an Ichiro hit and is batting .514 during a career-best 10-game hitting streak. Figgins went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts and is hitting only .190.

Manager Eric Wedge said the switch of Figgins and Ryan is only temporary.

Notes

• Wedge said he had a good conversation with Ichiro before the game. Ichiro entered Monday in a 1-for-24 slump, but collected two singles his first two at-bats.

Before the game, Wedge said he wasn't thinking about moving Ichiro around the lineup. But he's keeping his options open.

"Anything's a possibility," the manager said. "But don't ever underestimate the power of timing in this game. Baseball, more so than any sport. It's 162 games, it's six months. If you're going to do something, you'd better damn well be sure it's the right thing to do at the right time."

• Adam Kennedy enjoyed what might have been the best plate appearance by a Mariner all season when he worked a 12-pitch walk off Orioles starter Jake Arrieta in the third inning.

Kennedy said he didn't feel all that comfortable at the plate on Monday.

"When you're not feeling that great up there, you're just finding a way to have a good at-bat, get the job done," he said.

• Jack Cust got only the second triple of his career in the second on a fly ball that one-hopped the wall in right-center. His other triple came on Aug. 18, 2007 against the Royals.

For the record: W-L: 27-26; W PCT: .509; Streak: W1 Home: 14-13 Road: 13-13 vs. AL West: 8-7 vs. L.A.: 2-0 vs. Oakland: 4-3 vs. Texas: 2-4 vs. AL East: 7-6 vs. AL Cent: 9-13 vs. NL: 3-0 vs. LHP: 7-10 vs. RHP: 20-16 Day: 6-10 Night: 21-16 One-run: 12-8 Extra inngs.: 2-3 Home attendance Monday's crowd: 22,819 Season total: 571,656 Biggest crowd: 45,727 (April 8) Smallest crowd: 12,407 (April 13) Average (27 dates): 21,171 2010 average (27 dates): 24,992