3 Mike Zunino C

Zunino is out of Saturday's lineup in Houston, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports.

He is swinging a red-hot bat, slashing .391/.473/.719 with five home runs over his last 64 at-bats. However, with a 36.5 percent strikeout rate over that span, he is due for significant regression. Carlos Ruiz will start behind the dish and hit eighth.

Zunino was perfect over four plate appearances Wednesday, hitting two solo homers and drawing two walks in a win over the Rangers.

He's back on a hot streak, having hit .378 with four homers over his last 11 games. This performance aside, Zunino has continued striking out like a fiend, so he can't be counted on to maintain his hot streak for long. However, the 26-year-old backstop has put together a much-improved season on the whole, as he's now set a new personal best in homers with 23 while riding a .246 average that's easily better than anything he's produced to this point in his MLB career.

Zunino went 2-for-4 with two RBI from a run-scoring single and a fielder's choice in Tuesday's 10-3 win over the Rangers. He also walked and scored once.

The 26-year-old backstop contributed some timely hitting, leading to his fourth and fifth RBI of September. Zunino is enjoying a strong month overall, as he's hit safely in four straight and seven of his last nine, leading to a .355/.412/.613 line and .431 wOBA over 34 plate appearances.

Zunino is not in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Angels.

Zunino has started four straight games behind the dish, going 3-for-14 (.214) over that span, so he'll head to the bench for a breather as Carlos Ruiz takes over at backstop. Look for him to return to the lineup for Sunday's matinee contest.

Zunino is out of the lineup Sunday against the Athletics.

It's a much-needed rest for the red-hot Zunino, who has picked up starts in 10 of the Mariners' last 11 contests while contributing three home runs and a .462 on-base percentage over that span. Carlos Ruiz will handle catching duties in the series finale.