Mariners notes: As offense fizzles, Miller’s shutout salvages game over Tigers
With backs against the wall and the Mariners on the verge of suffering a series sweep, Bryce Miller had to be near-perfect.
For a third straight game since the All-Star break, Seattle bats fell eerily quiet against a Detroit club they were projected to handle. Losses on Friday and Saturday nullified any shot at a series win, and so Miller and Co. were in desperation mode, needing a win as contending wild cards continued to pull away.
Miller wasn’t perfect, but he indeed proved stellar in a pitcher’s duel on T-Mobile Park on Sunday. Detroit managed plenty of loud contact, but it was primarily right at Seattle defenders as Miller lasted five innings and blanked the Tigers in the finale.
Mixing between his four-seamer and slider, Miller stranded base runners and consistently delivered in high-leverage situations. Detroit never plated a game-tying runner — its best opportunity with two aboard in the fourth — and the Mariners went on to win, 2-0, in front of a home crowd of 32,368.
Miller was dominant. Seattle needed it.
He entered his start third among AL rookie pitchers in FanGraphs WAR (1.3), surely adding to that total. He was done after five innings for a performance that featured five hits, one walk and three strikeouts.
Miller, nonchalantly: “I’ll take it, putting up zeros.”
The efforts salvaged a game, as Seattle avoided what would have been its third series sweep this season. The regular-season win was the Mariners’ 1,000th at T-Mobile Park, a new milestone for the ballpark built and opened in 1999.
“His fastball is always a key pitch for (Bryce),” Servais said. “Not just locating at the top rail, but getting it inside and tying up some hitters. ... (Detroit’s) a better team than their record shows.”
Miller was Sunday’s scheduled starter earlier this week, but the nod became official when Seattle reinstated him from the 15-day injured list (right middle finger blister) just hours before the series finale. His last start was 16 days before and ended abruptly when the blister first interrupted Miller on June 30 versus Tampa Bay.
“Every start, my whole career, I’ve felt it,” Miller said of the discomfort. “Just managing it, making sure it doesn’t get out of hand. ... It felt good today.”
Seattle tacked on sporadic runs as Miller activated cruise control. Jarred Kelenic celebrated his 24th birthday in style: A first-inning double scored J.P. Crawford and gave the Mariners a 1-0 lead.
Cal Raleigh was next, though his contribution left the yard. Seattle’s backstop launched a 432-foot solo homer to right — his 12th of the year — that doubled Seattle’s lead in the fourth.
Crawford reached base four times, including two doubles off Detroit starter Reese Olson.
“If I had to have a team MVP at this point in the season, (J.P.) would be the guy,” Servais said. “He’s improved, he’s gotten better. ... He’s driving the ball consistently.”
And Seattle relievers only built on Miller’s shutout numbers. In order, Matt Brash, Justin Topa, and Andres Munoz each tossed perfect frames.
Paul Sewald, Sunday’s closer, allowed a one-out single in the ninth and struck out the side en route to his 18th save.
“That’s kind of what they do,” Raleigh said. “(The bullpen’s) been doing it all year. They did it all last year.
“You take it for granted sometimes, but they’re so good day in and day out.”
Servais: “We should never take (the bullpen) for granted.”
OFFENSE FIZZLES IN SERIES LOSS
The opening pair of contests with Detroit weren’t as pleasant.
Seattle lost by a run on Friday night, 5-4, in a game wide open for the taking. A fifth-inning rally fell flat when an incorrectly-called strike three on Ty France stranded the bases loaded and preserved Detroit’s slim lead. Base-running miscues and seven total men left on base contributed to the demise.
Detroit scored all of its five runs via three homers, two of which were surrendered by Seattle ace Luis Castillo. But ‘La Piedra’ recovered, at one point retiring 12 in a row.
It wasn’t enough.
“We failed on some of the little things,” Castillo said through a translator on Friday night.
Saturday brought no response and little fight. Detroit starter Michael Lorenzen showcased an All-Star-caliber changeup and blanked the Mariners through seven shutout innings, the winner of a 6-0 final in the middle game.
“Not what we were looking for coming out of the break, obviously,” Servais said Saturday. “We got beat. They out-pitched us, they out-hit us, they out-played us.
“Unfortunately, it’s a recurring theme here throughout the year. We’ll put a good run together, play well for seven, ten days… and we can’t sustain it.”
Frustrated fans agreed as Raleigh grounded out to end Saturday’s shutout. A significant chorus of boos rained down among nearly 39,000. The Mariners were, again, under .500 and in desperate need of an offensive revival.
Servais knew it. “We’ve got to swing the bat. Simple as that,” he said. With three hits, the Mariners fell to 29th in MLB in total hits this season (705), ahead only of an Oakland club on pace for a historically-bad campaign (690).
A win Sunday pushed the Mariners back to .500, and into sole-third for the AL West, trailing Texas (55-39) by eight games. Seattle remains 4.5 games behind rival Houston for the last of three AL wild card allocations.
SHORT HOPS
▪ J.P. Crawford’s eagle eye at the plate is paying massive dividends. Seattle’s shortstop sports career-highs in on-base percentage (.368) and OPS (.770). Another stat grabs the eye, per Mariners PR: Crawford is the only player in MLB to rank in the 95th+ percentile in walk rate and 85th+ percentile in whiff rate this 2023 season.
Entering Sunday, Crawford led the Mariners with 2.7 bWAR.
▪ Seattle starting pitchers own 47 quality starts this season (tossing six-plus innings and allowing three or less runs), most in MLB.
ON DECK
A lengthy, 10-game homestand — Seattle’s longest of the second half — continues at T-Mobile Park through July 23. The Mariners host Minnesota for four (July 17-20) before Toronto visits town for a weekend series (July 21-23) with considerable playoff implications.
Logan Gilbert gets Monday night’s start in the opener with Minnesota. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. PT.
This story was originally published July 16, 2023 at 4:47 PM with the headline "Mariners notes: As offense fizzles, Miller’s shutout salvages game over Tigers."
