Seattle catcher out with hamstring injury

SEATTLE, April 16 (UPI) -- Seattle Mariners catcher Kenji Johjima has been placed on the team's 15-day disabled list with what the team called "a slightly strained right hamstring."

Johjima said he felt "a pinch" in an area above his right knee while backing up a play at first base in the third inning of Wednesday night's contest against the Los Angeles Angels.

He stayed in the game, but the discomfort became worse when he ran to first base on a sixth-inning RBI single. Thursday, he went to the DL for the first time in three-plus seasons with the Mariners.

"I have never felt anything like that in my career," he said through his interpreter on Seattle's Web site.

Johjima is hitting .250 with no homers and four RBI in 24 at-bats this season.

The Mariners promoted Jamie Burke from Triple-A Tacoma and also recalled right-handed reliever Sean White from Tacoma to help in the bullpen while southpaw starter Ryan Rowland-Smith is on the 15-day DL with triceps tendinitis.